Rarity
Lower Feeling – New Damage Records
On listening our first impressions of ‘Lower Feeling’ is that it’s very pop punk with a dash of emo. As you go on it gets much heavier where the post-hardcore elements really shine through. We couldn’t put our finger on it at first but we couldn’t help but feel that in some instances it was slightly reminiscent to the likes of Papa Roach with the delivery and passion behind the vocals being quite Nu Metal in style. They have some more melodic tracks mixed with heavier songs and even a spot of rap on ‘Brain Dance’, a track which we particularly enjoyed. ‘Who Gives A Fuck’ really sticks out with it’s melancholic lyrics and slow ambient music to start, and then comes the break down! It feels as though at first they are maybe framing ‘who gives a fuck about anything’ negatively and then twist it to be positive as that phrase really can be taken either way depending on what way you look at it. ‘Kiss’ feels like an instant hit on first listen. Full of energy and incredibly catchy, a guaranteed crowd pleaser and the mini guitar solo that comes in is an unexpected but nice touch. ‘Sick To My Stomach’ and ‘Shit Eater’ are probably the heaviest tracks on the album. They offer up a more modern sound than some of the previous tracks and sound like they could come from an entirely different album. It’s great that no two songs are the same, even the vocals change in style depending on what mood the songs take. We’re really impressed by this album and will be putting it on our summer playlist. This is Rarity’s third release and first one since 2019 and we think they have come back all guns blazing with this one.
Review by Aggy Gillon