Review / 200 Words Or Less
This Door to Remain Closed During Work Hours
Achieve Albeit an Absence

Independent (2006) Tohm

This Door to Remain Closed During Work Hours – Achieve Albeit an Absence cover artwork
This Door to Remain Closed During Work Hours – Achieve Albeit an Absence — Independent, 2006

This Door to Remain Closed During Work Hours sounds like a jam band who shows their metal influences every once in a while. The repetition of a jam band is there, but there's no soloing. In that case, I'll just call it boring music. Achieve Albeit an Absence could also be an attempt at post-rock; it turned out too mellow and too slow. There are pretty melodic parts, I'll give them that, but the music rarely changes during a song. All but one of the six songs is over ten minutes. I expected epic tracks when I saw the song lengths but I was let down instead. This Door To Remain Closed During Work Hours reminds me of a local band from Anywhere, USA that never quite makes it out of local venues and never quite exceeds a fan base of close friends. It sounds like they recorded Achieve Albeit an Absence in one take and didn't care about its sloppiness.

3.5 / 10Tohm • December 31, 2007

This Door to Remain Closed During Work Hours – Achieve Albeit an Absence cover artwork
This Door to Remain Closed During Work Hours – Achieve Albeit an Absence — Independent, 2006

Recently-posted album reviews

Elway

Nobody’s Going To Heaven
Red Scare (2025)

There’s a specific kind of punk record that doesn’t try to inspire you, doesn’t bother offering solutions, and doesn’t pretend things are going to work out in the end. Nobody’s Going To Heaven is firmly planted in that tradition. Elway returns sounding less interested in rallying cries and more invested in documenting collapse as it happens. They cover every collapse … Read more

Heather The Jerk

Very Motorcycle EP
Goodbye Boozy (2025)

Heather The Jerk is a project from Madison, WI musician Heather Sawyer -- a scrappy punk band with garage and pop influences running rampant through the peppy, raw sound. This 4-song EP is called Very Motorcycle, released about a year after the Not Very Motorcycle tape. I have no idea what the phrase means, yet it sets a distinct mood. … Read more

Toys That Kill

Triple Sabotage
Recess (2026)

If you were lucky enough to catch Toys That Kill live last year, you were maybe treated to a set that included classic F.Y.P bangers like “Come Home Smelly” and “Jerkoff”. I made the trip down to Seattle to see them with Off With Their Heads specifically for this reason and was in no way disappointed. I had somehow managed … Read more