2 out of 5

Label: Horse Arm

Produced by: Poino

Nah.

Poino’s music is alright.  When singer Gaverick de Vis will shut up and stop doing his Al Johnson impression, the group kicks out some okay jams, though not anything that would really separate them from the slew of post-rock / post-punk kids who can play herky jerk stop-start riffs with slippery drumming at a fast pace.  So tracks like the opening Previous He and closer Sex Presto that maintain momentum for their majority (and don’t pause for wankery bridges or segues for at least a couple minutes); or the instrumental Caffeine Splash; or the build-up on Strength of a Cowboy – where Poino focuses on push and pull instead of being guided by the need to back away for some sing-shouts – those moments are alright.  Not your new favorite band, but a good listen, and probably impressive live.  But the overwhelming majority of the album is not that.  The U.S. Maple comparison doesn’t end with the vocals: the music also bites at being a more amped up version (and a much less studied version…) of that group’s rock dissections, as well as kicking around some Dazzling Killmen jitters as well.  And I’ve gone after vocalist de Vis, so I’ll add that maybe that voice isn’t a put on, but it… well, it doesn’t sound like it isn’t, which may just be an unfortunate truth.  So you have a singer who sounds like he’s doing an impression (and shouting ungrabbing lyrics while doing so) and dudes playing music that gives that impression too much room while also sounding like a mish-mash of other bands.