3 out of 5

Label: Liberty Park Recordings

Produced by: Jacob Ross (recorded by)

I recently ragged on a record for essentially adding nothing new to a genre, but I was admittedly triggered there because I jumped to the assumption that said record was far enough removed from the genre it mimicked that people would react to it like it was new.

Setting aside that all of that narrative was inside my head, I don’t inherently have a problem with artists just sounding like exactly whatever scene they’re playing in. That’s… how music happens. You hear it; you wanna be a part of it; and a good percentage of the expression of that is going to sound similar, but maybe the band is in your hometown or on a comp and that was your entrypoint.

Gila Bend, a single-release emo punk act with three songs to their belt, sound pretty much like every other hardcore emo band from the mid 90s, somewhere between Deep Elm and Equal Vision – all over the fretboard riffing; shouty, nasally vocals. However, you might also note that the design of this 7″ mixes scrappy notebook scribble labels with artsy construction: an oversized sleeve; stapled-in liner notes. Similarly, while the overall sound of Gila Bend is as generic as mentioned, the production (Jacob Ross) and song construction are very professional, blowing past the sometimes getting-by-on-energy-alone vibes of indie acts from this time and genre.

A worthwhile stopover if you happen across this.