3 out of 5

Label: Ascetic

Producer: Headcases & John Congleton

It’s one of those albums that just works best at full volume.  ‘Castaway But Blessed’ fits into the punky dump of Congleton productions where the success of the material rests with the band – Johnny C adds some flourishes where asked but it’ll be buried or embellished based on how the group’s live sound blends with Congleton’s low-end favoring production.  For Headcases this makes the moments where the intense rumble of drummer Mathieu Gazeau leads the fray key; moments that fall back on Pierre-Louis Francois’ emo-ish vocals not so much.  Thankfully the group seems to grasp this dynamic, leading things off with a title track that let’s Gazeau set a pummeling tone to which bassist Laurent Paradot keeps the rhythm section thick and rooted, Congleton reverbing P-L’s singing to flesh out the sound.  The album is peppered with moments that match this intensity: ‘White Dreams On A Honeymoon’ has an odd bridge and an over-processed attempt at sounding more hardcore, but the music and general composition are badass; ‘Forgot the Recipe’ whips its weaker guitar riff into a grand splash of punctuated drumming for its conclusion; closer ‘Bilious Boys’ matches track one for perfection in balance of Headcases’ admirable instrumental chops and proper balance of stomp and rhythm.  Alas, the intensity peters out of the group’s version of a filler track – track 2’s ‘Tales of Far Lands’ takes up the majority of the disc, very busy, shifting most of the focus to Pierre-Louis’ thin voice and a ‘keep the pace’ percussion over a stronger beat.  They’re still good songs but blend together; lumping five of these tracks together past the album’s midpoint makes the band’s lack of in-song build and release fairly apparent – summed up by the instrumental two minute ‘Horses On Parade,’ which should be awesome for all its face-paced riffing but without that sense of evolution sorta falls flat.

‘Castaway’ is a solid rock album; a nice blend of post-rock with punk energy, and is a good match for Congleton’s production style.  The album is started and finished with stronger tracks, which is always nice, but a couple more winners spread throughout the album could’ve certainly edged this over into better-than-average.