Handwriting! - Handwriting! (Album Review)

Handwriting! has been on my radar for a while. The group's EP Cool Cool Cool... was a really good listen. When I received an e-mail letting me know the band's new 8 track album was available on bandcamp I jumped at the chance to give it a listen.

Overall the new album is a really solid listen. It's definitely catchy and has the Midwestern emo sound. The album starts strong with the song "Stiffest Boy In America". It's a great opening track that really showcases the band's sound. It has the strained yet melodic "emo sounding" vocals and the driving song writing that mixes elements of early nineties emo with punk. "The Hobo on the Poor Jeremy Sticker" sticks out to me as a song I really like. I like the mid-tempo vibe and vocally it's one of my favorites on the album. I also like the closing track to the album. It has some really neat sounding guitar parts. In a way this album kind of reminds me of the overall sound of Snowing's debut album. Production wise it might be a step up in terms of overall sound. It’s maybe closer in sound to Marietta's Summer Death album. Either way if you dig either of those bands you should be able to enjoy this album.

I guess the only downfall to the album is it is a little on the short side. At eight songs long it feels a little more like an EP. It is eight quality songs though so I'm not complaining. The length definitely in no way changes how good the album is overall.

This is definitely a band you should be listening to. I also think this is the band's best work to date. Don't miss out on this one. It's the kind of album that is perfect for spring listening.

You can purchase the album as a pay-what-you-want on Bandcamp: HERE.