The New Scheme issue 17

Antillectual
Waves 7”

Antillectual are from Nijmegen, Netherlands. Waves was released to coincide with their US tour this past summer. They pack six songs onto this 7”, three new songs on the A-side and three from their last full length on side B. The first song especially sounds like the second Propagandhi record, with angry vocals and melodic guitars. The second song, “Sponsorship For Life” is downright catchy, without being repetitive or obvious. It’s probably my favorite here, with gruff (but still on key) vocal lines that are well written and delivered energetically. The rest of the songs find a middleground between the two sounds, collecting influences from mid-90’s anthemic punk and more recent melodic hardcore. All six songs are well constructed, leaning heavily on familiar influences without ever sounding too much like any one band.
Part of me sees this record as naïve, quaint or novel. In reality, it’s none of the above. It’s a genuinely heartfelt collection of six engaging punk rock songs. They are packed onto the record in a way that makes the vinyl sound a bit like the 50th listen on the second time through. And for Antillectual, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

[Anderson]
Square Of Opposition

Antillectual, Waves

Friday May 02nd, 2008
Square of Opposition, 2007
Author: Michael

Score: 7.5 / 10

Straightforward hardcore/punk. That is what The Netherlands' Antillectual offers up on Waves. This 7” features three new songs and three songs from their previous full-length.Antillectual serves up fast-paced hardcore punk with melody streamlined into the songs' structures. Musically I'd compare them to Strike Anywhere or Rise Against, but with a more coarse vocal delivery. The three new songs are a bit more melodic than those of their previous recording. One thing that is consistent is the social-political consciousness that is found in the lyrics.The only downfall to these songs is that they're already a year old as the recording was originally released to coincide with their U.S. tour last Summer. The good news is that Antillectual just released a brand new full-length in Europe. Hopefully someone wises up and releases it in the states. If not, time to import!

I'm late jumping on this, as it came out this past summer specifically for a US tour the band did. Antillectual are from the Netherlands, but you'd never guess it from listening to them. The music sounds very West Coast US. It's pretty melodic and poppy (but still fast and edgy) punk rock. These guys are probably more kids who grew up on Fat Wreck Chords stuff in the 90s and then got more overtly political and pissed off as they got into darker stuff. Think of the angry elements of Propaghandi with the more melodic elements of Strike Anywhere and you'll be somewhere close to imagining what these guys sound like.

The guitar-work is great, lots of cool riffs and interesting changes. Actually, the musicianship is pretty good all across the board, and the song structures are all pretty unique and well thought out. Some of the vocals are a little annoying, as the singer gets into the whole nasely thing from time to time, which takes away from the otherwise catchy melodies he's singing. The closing track on side A, "Waves", is definitely the stand-out, but not so much that the other songs are boring.
The record is limited to 500 copies on purple vinyl.

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