New Motive Power / The Flying Batteries – SNEScore (Split EP)
I am a big fan of split releases by independent musicians. This type of release is often designated for the punk rock/hardcore scene but “Snescore” features a split of polished dance rockers New Motive Power and lo-fi synth duo The Flying Batteries and their tribute to 16-bit SNES (Super Nintendo). These acts are both members of The Hai, which describes itself as a collective, not a netlabel. The difference? I’m assuming a contract. Why not? Anything goes these days, where indie musicians don’t have to be an object of mainstream media to reach a “global audience”. The two acts featured in this EP alone are from Brazil (NMP) and Scotland (TFB) and this collective currently consists of 15 acts from around the world.
New Motive Power seem to be the stronger of the two acts, their vocal arrangements and dirty ring-mod synths are biting and heavy and “The Escape” is a standout tracks based mostly on its’ synth hook. The downside was that it went from a King Crimson-esque dance track to “Uneasy” which has the vocal melody and subject matter of an emo b-side. In my opinion, this deviation would have been warranted if the synth patch had been modified as well, but it wasn’t. I just found myself wanting to hear the previous track instead. In my opinion these guys are going to be awesome, should they stay funky and weird.
The Flying Batteries provide the darker side of SNEScore. They have heavier saturated guitar riffs, lo-fi drum programming and I’m pretty sure their tracks “Passion” and “Rabbit Hole” could sync up with The Crow opening title sequence. I’m kidding, of course, but it does remind me of mid-90′s industrial music. My initial reaction was that their recordings sounded less interesting than The New Motive Power but I think it was due to the lacking vocal production (there are some things that even cavernous reverb can’t cover up).
Overall I think it was a worthwhile pairing of bands experimenting in their equally raw and unfiltered beginning stages of snescore. [RF]
New Motive Power – The Escape
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The Flying Batteries – Rabbit Hole
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Deep Link to the Release Page
It’s been a long time since I was this impressed by a release that is well outside my usual range of preferred genres. ‘Snescore’ hits hard, mesmerizes and is moving. Great release.