The Loud Bangs release their latest EP 'Highway Safety Films' - REVIEW

---

FEATURED ARTIST

The Loud Bangs

Los Angeles California, United States

---

Credit - Kim Withers

---

REVIEW

Highway Safety Films

---

#HighwaySafetyFilms by #TheLoudBangs is a 5 track project that conveys a consistent narrative - Mental Health. Founded in the summer of 2021, Los Angeles rockers THE LOUD BANGS were brought together by a love of shoegaze, ‘90s alternative, and German club music.

#SpeedEnforcedbyAircraft is a track that opens with experimental bass and bell synths that are accompanied by distorted organs to create something very atmospheric and eerie. The track has a feel of unease within its scores but also offers something quite uplifting through the melodic bell synths. This track is a mix of distortion and hypnosis. From the title I can tell that the intent was to create something busy and noisy to imitate the feel of an aircraft maybe?

#Archie'sEnemies brings something messy but less than messy than the track before it. Whilst listening to the track I could hear the inclusion of both acoustic and electric guitars. The track weaves between messy delays and reverb with pockets of rest to allow the listener to hear where the drums, guitars and vocals fit into the track. The feel that I'm getting from #TheLoudBangs is that their signature sound includes a lot of delay and reverb to create atmospheric pieces. I think that as a listener I would say that there is a little too much delay and reverb going on here but at the end of the day this is art and in all that is art there are people who view it differently. I am under no illusion that this project was put together with the intent to create something very distorted and atmospheric.

#CarsKill brings a heavier rock feel to the front of their artistic expression through the use of heavily distorted guitar strums that fill the whole track with feedback and distortion. Again, those little pockets of space are found in this track too but this time to allow for the clear sound of a guitar solo. I like these little pockets, they eradicate the delay and distortion for just enough time to remind to listener that there is talent behind the noise. I'm not sure whether or not it was the intention of the artists to create hidden vocals here but this seems to be the case. I could not grasp the words but maybe that was the intention? Sometimes vocals can act as a sound rather than specific lyrics and this worked well with the overall theme and feel of this piece.

#Oranges is a track that offers a message in its opening. This works really well to set the tone for what is to come next. As the introduction lifts there is an electric guitar strum that gets louder and louder leaving you anticipating the peak. The introduction lasts quite a long time but it works! I like this piece a lot and think that the waiting game it plays works well. Again those distant vocals work wonders here. I love the heavy metal distortion effect used on the electric guitar, it's great.

#EmergencySurgery brings the project to a close in a way that is dreamy and different to the other tracks on this project. Although the distortion is still present there are elements of clarity in all of the pieces that make this piece. There are clear synth progressions and the vocals are layered on top of the instrumentation to give this project a new feel. I like the use of dreamy synths and the reverb/delay on the vocals is just enough to keep to the signature sound of this band. As the piece reaches just over a third of the way through we hear the electric guitar distortion make a brief appearance. This offers just enough of their previous sound to pass through and remind us that it is still present.

Overall, I would say that this project is something that has a lot of meaning to the people who put it together. I think that their expression of their own mental health through their music gives us a real insight into the messiness of the brain especially when we are struggling with out of control thoughts. Although this wouldn't be a project that I would instantly connect with I can hear the angle and story of the artists which is EVERYTHING. Music is a unique expression and we should never take skill and meaning away from an artist. One thing that I have learned from #TheLoudBangs is that their music is a pure expression of who they are at what they feel.

Alice Street – Vox, Guitar

Daisy Gutierrez – Vox, Guitar

Hannah Redley – Bass, Keyboards

Marcus Nemuro – Drums

---