Carthiefschool Carthiefschool CD
Hailing from Sapporo, Japan, CARTHIEFSCHOOL delivers a unique blend of jazz, math rock, and screaming post-hardcore on their debut LP. The band’s three members immediately sound like technically adept musicians on the first track, with syncopated hi-hat rhythms and silky smooth bass lines. Vocalist/guitarist Tomoya alternates between a spoken vocal delivery style and a throat-shredding raw holler, sometimes changing back and forth on a dime. Their approach to music reminds me some of RUINS, in that jazz instrumentation and musical vocabulary is used to explore more traditionally aggressive genres. However, where that band creates cacophonous prog-noise, CARTHIEFSCHOOL mainly adheres to post-hardcore with occasional forays into noodly experimental territory. I prefer when the band goes full-tilt aggro, such as on opening track “蜜柑 (Mikan)” and “油 (Abura).” The shift from jazz fusion to raging hardcore is awesome. My only critique is that these moments are not incredibly plentiful. Many of the tracks stay in the jazz-rock lane, although they are definitely interesting in their own right. There is a playful musicality to many of these songs, like on “House” when the band plays through what is called in classical music circles, “the Tetris theme song.” The musicianship and willingness to experiment is admirable and worth checking out if you like a little jazz with your punk.