Irrelevant

Reflecting And Refracting (2001)

Boris

Hailing from Sydney, Irrelevant have been doing their thing for well over two years now.
You might stereotype the band straight away by their location, or you can picture some boring
pop punk like frenzal rhomb, or you can even think they look like the guy from 'The crocodile hunter'.
Anyway, I am writing this review for a reason.They deserve to be heard by much wider audiences.

Irrelevant are a 5 piece band that combines hardcore fury, emo melody and pop punk catchiness
better then any other band that I have ever heard (And I'm not just saying that because they are the local band).Daiman's vocals have been compared to those of Lou Kollar, but they seem much more melodic and powerful,simply because he can sing both melodic and angry parts.This is their follow up to their first EP 'The Need For Divinity', which could easily be described as a 'fast' record.How fast you ask?Well, they make raised fist look like Stevie Wonder.

First track, After words, can easily sum up the rest of the EP.The song starts with a noisy intro,but suddenly the music explodes and screams of intense emotional vocals take place over very
personal lyrical structure.Tempo changes and melodic, yet hard music will leave you breatheless throughout the whole song.

Next in line is 'This World is theirs', which starts with mid tempo pop punk, then picks up the speed, then slows down again before the catchy chorus come in.
The line 'They lie, as we lie,we lie, as they lie' (Sung in very melodic and emotional way of course), really sticks in your head, and this would at first probably be your favourite song of the CD.

Third song, 'As thoughts fall' has an interesting mix of angry, if not pissed vocals, with music that first seems to be part of some other song.But after a second listen, everything blends in your ears perfectly. From pissed to fast.'Untitled' is a 50 second fast hardcore punch in the face, with screams taking over the usual chorus.

'In the wake' is the most melodic song you'll find on here and clocks over 4 minutes long. This might be the only song that could actually be played on the radio, if it didn't have such an
amount of screaming from backup vocals (I'm not complaining).

Finally 'A deeper shade of hate' starts off very much as the first track did, then all
suddenly it explodes into the intense fast hardcore.A couple of minutes later, this song slows down to a part where the singer is on his knees screaming his heart out to a emocore background music.
A bonus to every song is that there are two very active backup vocals, which really work good together.

It is really hard to compare Irrelevant to any other band, but if I had to, it would be something like a mix of SOIA, HWM, Boy sets fire, Lagwagon, Raised fist and Glasseater. Now that doesn't make much sense, I know, but after you hear this you'll understand why.

They have recently played with likes of H2O, Strung out and just a few weeks ago, they did a tour of Australia with Grade. If you are fan of any of the bands I've compared to them to
above, you won't be dissapointed with Irrelevant.
This is my favourite CD for 2001/2002 by far.6 song EP of this quality sound more like a tease then a release to me.I WANT MORE! Click here for some info, and a cd cover.Irrelevant