Spectreview: Actionesse – The Deep, Bright Below

-DARK ORANGE-

“I should be ashamed
Of how much you believe in convention”

Actionesse market themselves as “post-horncore,” and that’s the first sign that they don’t take themselves too seriously. It’s a welcome breath of fresh air for a style of music that tends to run the straight and narrow. On their new debut album, The Deep, Bright Below, the five-piece blaze through their interpretation of hardcore with a self-assurance that matches the ferocity of their playing. The tongue-in-cheek self-categorization comes from Joel Kenworthy’s blazing horns, which add a brassy, welcome playfulness to an otherwise straightforward hardcore rush. Through his inclusion, songs like the brash “Fully Clothed/Slightly Concussed,” the catchy “Unplanned Obsolescence” and the slinking, brief instrumental “Movement Dark” become more than the sum of their parts. As a crucial anchor of the band’s uniqueness, he mostly matches the melodic leads of the guitar and vocalist, and one wishes the horns in general were used less strictly as support. There’s plenty to enjoy here though, from the unobtrusive, tastefully-produced vocals of guitarist Ian Reed to Jimmy Colven’s fleet drumwork to the trombone/sax interplay of new member Olivia Guinn to, collectively, the unassailable energy of it all. If you prefer your hard rock with a fun, goofy edge, Actionesse have got the real goods right here.

Recommended for a spontaneous melee in the parking lot.