Reviews

How many times have you heard about members of bands you liked growing up forming new bands, in a totally different scope of music; and you still actually enjoy it? Aside from his holiness Czar MacKaye forming Fugazi, members of Sons of Abraham forming Glassjaw, Walter Schreifels of Gorilla Biscuits forming Quicksand and maybe the weirdos in Youth of Today going on to Shelter – the road to success in genre transition has been a bumpy one. It just got a little smoother. 
 
"Magdalene”, the first EP from  hardcore pot-luck leftovers Renee Heartfelt is a sweet and honest portrait that proves the mantra of “once hardcore, always hardcore” isn’t necessarily true.  Featuring members of such seminal mid-late nineties hardcore bands as Count Me Out, Striking Distance and Time Flies; Renee Heartfelt is a very positive step for life after youth crew. The music takes heavy influence from bands like Quicksand, Texas is The Reason and even contemporaries Sparta and stays on a very even kilter bell-curve from start to finish. The production value is outstanding, which is expected when dealing with Matt Squire (Hot Water Music).  The quality of the performance he’s squeezed out of them is clearer with each track.  My only qualms with this record are with the lyrical content, as it is very boring and elementary. Coinciding with their formulaic song structure, it underscores a lack of sophistication only Youth Crew dropouts could achieve. The melodies too, are simplistic to the point of boredom.
 
Hopefully, as they continue to grow into their new shoes and write more songs, they will continue to mature and solidify a unique sound for themselves. In my opinion, this is a solid debut EP from Renee Heartfelt. I look forward to seeing what they produce over the coming years and hope that the sound matures elegantly and gracefully, like a fine Pinot Noir.