Into Another

Seemless (Hollywood)
by Joshua Brown

I guess it’s true what they say. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Many folks involved in ’80s NY hardcore later decided that it had been great being part of a scene that played fast and died young, but the time had come to forge new musical territory. Members of Gorilla Biscuits and Youth of Today formed Quicksand (who gave hardcore a more mature focus while maintaining its bite) and CIV (who pick up where diverse sub-genres of punk left off), and members of Underdog and Bold formed Into Another, all of whom have now been signed to major labels. (Into Another released two LPs and two EPs on Revelation before Hollywood picked them up).

The music of Into Another is certainly different from its players’ aforementioned earlier bands (as well as from Whiplash, bassist Tony Bono’s ex-band). What it’s not so different from is Alice In Chains. The vocals are similar, only the songs are generally less catchy, and the guitars of IA make a layered tapestry, the high-end squeal dancing on low-pitch drone. My pick for MTV/radio single is Track 9, “Regarding Earthlings,” as it is loaded with pop sensibility (in contrast to most of the other tunes) and doesn’t veer too far from the GenX bullshit aesthetic. Kidding aside, though, it’s a great song that’s worthy of the attention that second-string grungesters are now eating up. Seemless certainly isn’t a bad album, but if they’d like to live up to their hype as creators of a new sound, they’ll have to either try a helluva lot harder or stop trying so damn hard.