Black Tie Brawl - Demo 2007

1. Heart Shaped Scar
2. A Love Lost
3. Vicki

North Lincolnshire's Black Tie Brawl mix an emotional pop-punk style with hardcore and metalcore breakdowns. This sounds good in theory but in practice the harder sections become somewhat non-sequitur, not really relating to the rest of the track. The vocals are double-tracked throughout, an odd choice which gives the music some character but becomes quite tiring on the ears after a while. The keyboard sounds are sparingly used and aren't a major feature in the music, and because of their subtlety my ears are drawn towards them appreciatively; they sometimes remind of my old Commodore 64 games (wow I'm showing my age now!).

Once we've gone past the first track, which despite the sometimes odd choice of breakdowns, is quite interesting and innovative, the second 2 tracks are pretty similar in style and don't have much exciting about them for the bulk of the song. It might have been nice if they'd have messed about with the odd song in continuous hardcore or pop-punk/emo, but I feel I've heard everything they have to offer by mid-way through the first track.