Personal Style

Reviews

Eyes and Flys / Personal Style Labor Day / White Strawberries 7”

Lo-fi garage psych from Long Beach, California. Musically, this is in the vein of BLACK ANGELS on the top side, with the flip, “White Strawberries,” being a more uptempo, straightforward garage affair. Both songs are hampered by a lackluster vocal delivery, where the vocalist tends to sing the riff. Coupled with a fairly obnoxious megaphone-sounding treatment, the songs are relegated to mediocrity at best. There’s a reason that most neo-psych bands drench their vocals in reverb and delay. If nothing else, this release makes a strong case for doing so.

Chimes of Bayonets / Personal Style split 7″

One song from each band here. CHIMES OF BAYONETS have a sound reminiscent of something like a harder-edged Midwestern “emo” band, perhaps. PERSONAL STYLE’s contribution sounds like a mix of ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT without the horns and SUPERCHUNK, but like…tougher. Both bands have their moments here that have me on the fence of wanting to hear a bit more, but ultimately those moments aren’t enough to get me off of that fence. Perhaps if there were one more song from each band on this release I could have been swayed, but unfortunately this was not the case.

Personal Style False Memories / Heartbeat 7″

Three-piece from Buffalo, NY with what seems like their second release? Although I didn’t find much on the band, I get a very jam-econo/MINUTEMEN thing from “False Memories,” with sparsity and intention throughout. The live take from Duende at Silo City, on YouTube, is rough and full of feeling—I wish they’d gone for that sound on this recording. “Heartbeat Memorial” caught me by surprise based on the A-side, starting with a wall of distortion and a faster tempo that doesn’t see any rests, along with a more melodic structure. All that said, I thought I was headed for a synth-wave band based on the cover art, so color me confused.

Personal Style On Fyre / Block the Hate 7″

Two solid anthemic rock tracks out of this Buffalo, NY trio. Self- and socially reflective while still insightful and angry. Playing like a ’90s version of STIFF LITTLE FINGERS with some synth and current culture angst thrown in.

Personal Style Demo 2019 cassette

Pure and simple: this Buffalo band cranks out infectious and addictive music. There are worlds where people will call it indie, post-punk, college rock…but goddamn if it doesn’t just hit exactly right regardless of genre descriptor. Vocals are kinda like the first INTERPOL record (that’s a good thing, fight me), their approach is chill and confident at all times, and the guitars just burn the whole time, even when (especially when) they are delivering hooks that will stick with you for days. And then they drop the bridge in “Brain Flu” and it’s clear that these fellows are well versed in American Hardcore Classics and I’m like “yeah, I get it…y’all are just really good.” I can leave the schmaltzier cuts like “Bubble Yum” behind, but I can’t deny that they are absolutely on point. This tape came out last year, there’s a single that they dropped a few months ago (I peeked—read the lyrics—trust me), and all I’m waiting for is a full-length platter to spin on repeat for days.