The Procedure
“Rise of New Reason”
(Brightside / Blackout!)
I met this guy the other day that was so stoked that he was into Thursday before everyone else was into Thursday. I guess we all do the same thing. I mean, when everyone’s like, “Oh, have you heard the new Bananarama album? They are sooo good.” I’ll be all, “Pusha. I liked those guys since “Karate Kid part I”, bitch.”
Anyway, ex-Thursday guitarist Bill Henderson’s new project The Procedure probably won’t have many people claiming they’ve liked them “ever since…” but it’s not that bad. “Rise of New Reason” combines a lot of Ensign and This Day Forward influences, with the heavy guitars and shouted vocals, but there’s something noticeably missing from the majority of the dozen tracks. What, exactly, is that lacking ingredient? Vocal variation, my dear friend.
While I love the screamed shout as much as the next yahoo, I don’t want to be bombarded with the same raggedly pitched, gruff-assed shout over and over again. Take a brutally screamed song like Thursday’s “Cross Out the Eyes” for example. What makes the song so memorable is undoubtedly the breathless yell, yet only when it’s contrasted against the softer, varied elements. “Rise of New Reason” has enough of those fist in the air moments to stoke you out, but not enough to make you want to listen to it again.
