ALBUM REVIEW: Big Twenty – Other Half

Post-hardcore trio OTHER HALF from Norwich release their debut album, Big Twenty, this Friday. The group have set out to take listeners on a journey through a narrative many will be able to relate to. The recurring characters that make up Big Twenty “…navigate changing social scenes and trends as they near the end of their twenties, teasing themselves with the past and spiralling in an unhealthy cycle of going out and coming down.” All of the different songs on this release relate to each part of the story, and the inspiration for the occurrences in the tracks are loosely based on experiences that the band members have had themselves.

Starting off with Karaoke, the song opens with some hard hitting guitars and drums, followed by vocals performed by Cal Hudson, the tone of which sound almost spoken but have a real edge to them.  This song in particular sounds slightly like it should be in Scott Pilgrim VS the World, having a sort of teen angst type of sound to it. The ending to the song is very abrupt, which may have a metaphorical meaning to do with the story running alongside these tracks.

White Worm opens with a cool slow and sort of beefy intro made up of guitars from Hudson and bass from Sophie Porter, maybe signifying a haziness of the mind. This then drops into a pretty standard paced verse showing how someone can be quickly shaken from their daydream per say. Again this song has an almost 2000s vibe to it, making it very nostalgic, maybe linking back to someone looking back at their earlier twenties.

The albums single, Trance State, begins with a groovy, distorted guitar tune. The lyrics to this song talk about noticing the wrong doings around you, but then ignoring them and moving onto the next high, and the tone of this meaning carries in the riffs throughout, sounding almost sinister. Tiny Head is a bit of a contrast in sound to the rest of the tracks. It has more of a groove to it, and has a different tempo to it, with Alfie Adams‘ drum beats being a lot slower than the previous songs in the verses. This track has a very tuneful chorus making it more of a sing-along song than its predecessors. It is quite easy to image this song being a fan favourite at live performances.

Heads Go Soft has an intro that again seems nostalgic, almost being plucked straight out of a 2000s coming of age film, but paired with edgy vocals and super cool riffs. There is a super cool jam section nearing the end of the track, but it is cool to hear the combo of more varied riffs with the drums. Community Spirit is the last track on the album, and the riffs throughout give off a much more almost creepy but energetic vibe, maybe hinting to the realisation of the character of what path they have chosen to follow. The vocals throughout the album are a really interesting style, but do sound pretty similar throughout the whole release, however, they are still effective in getting across the emotions that the characters in the narrative are trying to portray.

Overall, the story running through this album is super cool, and you can definitely hear the different meanings in all the tracks individually. For a debut album, this is really well thought out and made well, so OTHER HALF have shown how much potential they have. The nostalgic elements of the songs were really interesting and really did give off this sense of wanting to go back to the “better days”. The tracks could have been more varied though as the majority seem to have a similar tone and could run into the problem of them merging together, but as said before, this is a really good debut album.

Rating: 8/10

Big Twenty is set for release on August 21st via Venn Records. 

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