Longshot

Realignment (2010)

Brian Shultz

While Longshot claim the usual sort of modern hardcore influences like Comeback Kid and American Nightmare, their actual associates–Lions Lions, Therefore I Am, Auburn–dabble more in metalcore and sing/scream fare I haven't found much value in. I was consequently hesitant in approaching their EP, Realignment, but it was pleasant to hear a band playing relatively standard hardcore without any largely off-putting frills.

That being said, they also play it kinda safe and boring, with often clichéd lyrical proclamations ("I will not stand down. / I belong right here."). The type of hardcore sound they go for, actually, feels like one of those more marketable ones à la Stick to Your Guns or the Ghost Inside, with cleanly heavy riffs and pulsing mosh parts that don't overdo it too badly–"Going South" is a good example, with a little bit of southern flavor as the title implies, something that's probably a given with a cameo from Auburn's Brian Colantonio. Maybe a little less heavy than those bands overall.

"The Fall" has this one stop-start at the beginning, and you think something cool is going to come after the pause, but the band just essentially repeat the part from before (there's also this one subtle drum tone that bothers the hell out of me; it's in "Words to the Wise", too). It'd definitely make this EP a little more interesting if the band took some chances once in a while (and unlike their peers, that doesn't have to mean synths or clean singing, although the latter's employed in "Words to the Wise" and it's definitely not awful by any means…at least until the random, pretty harmony from Lions Lions' Josh Herzer). Speaking of "Words to the Wise", its more desperate tempos and aggressive vocals hint more at the Comeback Kid influence, landing somewhere between Wake the Dead and Broadcasting….

Realignment is pretty competent and well-played, but at the same time, it's definitely "been there, done that." The odds for Longshot to come up with a more realized and intriguing sound are…not bad…but they need some work.

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Realignment EP