Cover Your Tracks
Fever Dream
(Epitaph Records)
Cover Your Tracks are the kind of band that should work in theory. Comprised of members of Woe, Is Me, Decoder (remember them?), and Cursed Sails, one would expect the band to successfully traffic in melodic, engaging post-hardcore. Instead, Fever Dream, their debut, finds the band in search of a sound throughout these ten songs. Musically, Cover Your Tracks seems caught somewhere between industrial-tinged hard rock and arena-ready metalcore, and aside from a couple instances, both sides of their sonic coin keep to themselves. “Striking Matches” does find the band trying everything at once: hard-charging riffs, industrial atmosphere, and arena-ready choruses, and it showcases why Cover Your Tracks’ sound isn’t quite settled yet, like it’s a solution that needs more mixing to clear up the precipitate at the bottom.
Further, Fever Dream is neither heavy nor catchy enough to fully work. Humorously, “Good Enough” features a poor rendition of a radio hook with a third-rate metalcore riff showing up a few times throughout. It’s decidedly not good enough of a track. Throughout, much of the album falls flat: choruses don’t stick, token heavy sections feel awkwardly placed, and the industrial element isn’t explored enough.
Despite the obvious flaws, Cover Your Tracks exhibit enough flair to make a few of these tracks enjoyable and showcase a path for future success. “Lights Out” is the other side of the funhouse mirror of “Striking Matches”, with its actual solid hooks and riffs. “Cages” is more 30 Seconds to Mars/Deftones, with a striking atmosphere to bolster the tune. As much as this is a disappointing album, it’s rarely an awful affair; it’s merely an album that shows its growing pains. There are the bones of something good (maybe great) here, but to get back to my chemistry metaphor, Cover Your Tracks needs to let its sonic solution mix more to get a better final product.
Purchase Fever Dream here: Physical | iTunes
