Razzle Dazzle (RZL DZL)Razzle Dazzle features ex-members of Violent Minds and Cold World, so I don't know whether they're from Detroit or from the Wilkes-Barre Scranton area, whatever. This EP features five new tracks and their demo, which was also released on vinyl by Lockin' Out.
These guys play extremely short and to the point hardcore songs that seldom break out of the mid pace range. You can definitely feel some of the influences of Cold World coming into play with their party prankster vibe and very slight hip hop influence in the short lived song "Certified Prankster." I thought I would've liked this a lot more than I did, considering I enjoyed Cold World's album, albeit it didn't deserve nearly half of the hype the band received, but I don't know, this album is just extremely forgettable. The songs are so fucking short, that by the time you can even start to get into them their over. I mean if you're going to play songs that are less than a minute speed shit up. At least the demo side of things are a bit better. The songs are more than mere intros, and actually bring some speed and intensity to the table.
The only thing that I really enjoyed were the band's silly lyrics about pranks, partying and just having a good time. But then again how hard is it to write 3 lines for 40 seconds of music?
The production is alright. I mean it's not like the songs really needed a great recording. You could've recorded this shit on a boombox and it would've gotten the same response.
The layout is a lot like the EP, it's either good or bad. The cover art is actually pretty damn cool, good choice of colors with the green and yellow. It looks like someone took some shrooms and drew a magic green land of magic mushrooms, and a real feminine looking all-seeing-eye pyramid with a big crazy looking Easter egg right in the middle. The booklet is lackluster though. In place of putting lyrics and thank you's the band opted for a picture of astronauts in outer space.
Thesis: 1.5/5
Songs worthy of replay: Dusted
Thesis: The new songs are fucking weak as hell, I mean 5 songs that are barely 3 minutes? The demo isn't that bad, but nothing that I haven't heard and just didn't do it for me. C'mon man, you're fucking stealing kids money, this shit better be like 4 bucks.