SINGLE REVIEW

ORCA
"THE THOUGHT OF FALLING"
(Alaska Recordings - snow004)

The Plymouth based, post hardcore quintet released this two track single during last September on the emerging Alaska Recordings label, using the production services of John Mitchell.  Classy and mature song writing ensured that the band are too good to ignored and more than warranted this (albeit belated) review.

Think of Hundred Reasons with their initial energy and impetus; add in the aggression of Funeral for a Friend and you wouldn’t be that far off the sound of Orca.  It carries the wholesome flavour of emo in a highly melodic mix of ripe guitar dynamics, dry vocals and attention grabbing hooks.  Both songs ("This Year's Girl" and "Without Questions") are powerful, fairly aggressive and feature brash yet melodic singing, with just the right measure of complimentary, screaming, backing vocals used for depth and emphasis. It’s a fairly raw sound that works very well - it rocks but still remains incredibly accessible - and incorporates a certain completeness about it.

If you enjoy the current wave of post hardcore bands (Hundred Reasons, Funeral for a Friend, Boy Set Fire) and appreciate the more melodically emotional elements of music, then you will definitely enjoy Orca.  As much as you can tell from just two songs, they don’t appear to offer that much new to the mix, but what they have created is still very enjoyable.  It will be interesting to see how they develop their sound further.

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Rigsby  (6th December, 2003)
www.iwillbeheard.co.uk

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