3 out of 5

Label: Volcom

Produced by: Vaux?

Conflicted as to what it wants to sound like and crowded as all heck as a result, Vaux’s debut EP is nonetheless interesting, and offers enough accents on its hardcore punk shtick to have made them – at this point – worth following up on.  …Potential they definitely ended up making good on with their subsequent albums.

What’s interesting, in retrospect, is how they first keyed on the Volume potential of having three guitarists for their following Volcom release, but would then return to some of the indie touches found here on the album following that one.  But what that ends up meaning for ‘On Life; Living’ is that you have a group who isn’t sure if they want to be shouty, or experimental; if they want to err toward post-punk / post-rock fractured structures, or just blast the speakers.  And so, often, you have a mess.  Every song will wind in excellent moments of guitar interplay, with Quentin Smith’s ability to make common sentiments of disenchantment and yearning actually sound interesting already in place; Joe McChan will bust out some excellent off-time dynamics or fills.  But every song will also either go on for too long, and pack in like 8 bridges to nowhere, or, like final track To The End, start in the seeming middle of the song.  In both cases, the overstuffed / understuffed bag o’ tricks undermines the core of the tracks, which are otherwise pretty solid.