by Oliver on July 9, 2023 in EP
Better Lives sound up God Made Me an Animal – even more so than the pre-single 30 Under 13 announced – “just” as Greg Puciato had just before 3/5 of the bankruptcy estate of Every Time I Die posed to shape the band’s B-sides. But that’s absolutely fine.
„It sounds like AI made this record. The instrumentation is average. I can’t find a single memorable moment. It all works but this is exactly the reason why I dislike supergroup crossovers. It displays competency and that’s about it.“
You don’t have to look at things quite as bleakly as Petram Valiani, but that’s quite wrong Frontierer-Definitely not the mastermind with his verdict on the first EP of the established supergroup: Better Lovers succeed on God Made Me an Animal namely, never to sound like more than the sum of its parts; never to act otherwise than if one had limited oneself to using the trademarks of the previous two big bands of all those involved (which in the case of the Buffalo gang means in terms of personnel: without Keith Buckley and Andy Williams, who has migrated to wrestling, but with none other than Will Putney acting on second guitar) together. And that’s kind of a problem – if only because of the expectations.
Puciato (in pre-solo mode in best Dillinger-manner using all facets of his unmistakable voice, from the bestial screaming to the melodic velvet paw, basically delivers a fabulous paint-by-numbers show running) cannot keep up with Keith on the terrain provided by this constellation due to the inevitable association, in this context intoning even close to saturation, meanwhile the instrumental side of Every Time I Die basically on a standardized level without flashes of genius, but instead delivering some Weinman-esque panic chords and such signatures, finding the greatest common denominator to their new singer by using an (structurally, tempo-technically, compositionally,…) almost conventionally and formulaically conceived drawing board draft deliver along the common intersection – catchy, but quickly leaving behind the euphoria generated while listening without any real sustainability.
Just really a bit like an AI had to think up a band that parts of the bankruptcy masses behind Radical and Dissociation thinks ahead.
Of course there is the cross, that God Made Me an Animal has to bear, nevertheless, above all from the enormous claims that one has to make Better Lovers if only because of their scene-noble cast and reputation is not very objective.
In fact, the songwriting is quite solid – after the somewhat underwhelming opener Sacrificial Participant (almost a compact one Dillinger-Hatz in a hard-rocking math interpretation, which leads to a soft bridge in the pop-catchy, gesticulating chorus with pathos tendencies, but primarily impresses with the brilliant, roasting bass sound) even much more than that.
The known 30 Under 13 does a lot better than Sacrificial Participant and gets a furiously galloping bridge complete with twisting solos and aggressively bared teeth before Become So Small displays a heartily manic energy and urgency with a plus of unpredictability and chaos. The concluding title song lives from its superb guitar work in high-speed Southern Metal and otherwise reacts with a fiery pragmatism on the MO, which theoretically always works the right switch anyways. It should be noted that the emotional impact is always less intense than in the two reference groups Every Time I Will Puciato possibly not blame at all – the prerequisites for an impressive future together have finally been laid here.
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