Older Siblings Unfinished Basement cassette

Debut release from this Canadian brother/sister guitar/drums duo that sounds just like the WHITE STRIPES. Just kidding, they don’t. Where that band pulled from blues and garage rock, OLDER SIBLINGS conjure tones from ’90s grunge into their simple, straightforward rock songs. Think NIRVANA’s Bleach without the feedback or angst; mid-tempo beginner riffs with earnest vocals and BEAT HAPPENING-style drums. I love that siblings made these songs in their basement together, but this collection feels undercooked. It is unsophisticated, but not in an intentional, artistically reductive way. It honestly sounds like someone’s first band and just isn’t all that interesting. On a positive note, “Mediocre Tendencies” (an appropriate title, but I’m trying not to be mean) has a call-and-response vocal interplay that sounds good, and the surfy “Wood Panelled Walls” is a fun instrumental break. Best of luck to them, but this one wasn’t for me.

• Reviewer Nick Odorizzi
• Label Weepy Eye
• Issue MRR #471 • August 2022