Long on dissonance, short on songwriting is how I've found Retisonic and their Levittown EP. Connection to Dischord aside, the main point that Retisonic has not taken away from bands like Embrace and Rites of Spring is the ability to above all, write a memorable song. That's why while I wouldn't go so far as to use a word like "bad;" forgettable, however, certainly springs to mind.

And it's hard to pin down just where this ship went astray, because many of the pieces are ones that would normally add up to an EP that's solid at worst. The jarring rhythms and accompanying vocals just simply don't carry the kind of spark needed for this kind of music. Rather than a post-punk swagger, the feeling that comes across is much more comparable to garage rock and the image of "cool" that genre and its bands are forced to maintain. The listless manner in which the vocals are delivered by singer Jason Farrell evokes such a feeling of laziness that it's hard to give any aspects of this EP the time of day. When he sings "Attempts to throttle control have led to nothing more than / A clear understanding of just how loose and careless things have become" over the hum-drum of the guitar, bass, and drums, I can't help but agree with his position.

It's hard to care about songs as a listener when the overwhelming feeling is that the band didn't care themselves. "Curses" is the band at their peak but unfortunately, it's the first song of the record. The guitars churn at a fevered pitch with drums rolling right in behind, but even then, the vocals seem on a different (read: not good) plane entirely.

A review to match the record -- entirely forgettable.