Reviews

The Blackout Argument pride themselves on the fact that they have accomplished so much in such little time. Since their formation in January of this year, they have managed to play a handful of shows in Europe and compose their debut EP entitled Munich Angst. Comprised of members from Flyswatter, For Heaven’s Sake, and the now defunct Paint The Town Red, this German-based quintet offers up tired sounds, strained vocals and unimaginative compositions. Call it sloppy on the production end or call it heartfelt on showing the genuine strain put forth by Sinan Akilli’s vocals, The Blackout Argument fails to engage the listener on any level.
 
Balancing between a hardcore sound with emo-like choruses, Munich Angst in all it’s 14 minute glory is a boring record. Predictable in it’s sound, all of the tracks seem to effortlessly mesh together giving the listener one continuous track. The one redeeming quality was the fact that the vocals in the opening track “Regret In Stereo” were reminiscent of Anthony "Civ" Civorelli’s sound. (For those in the dark, Civ is the lead singer of the seminal hardcore band the Gorilla Biscuits). It may be a stretch to say they are identical, but for some reason Civ was the first person I thought of when listening to the track.
 
The remaining four tracks show glimpses of potential but never quite capitalize on it. Between the great drumbreaks and solid guitar in “The Fastbreak” and the sentimentality present in “Maybe Yesteryear”, there proves to be life in an otherwise lifeless record, but as it remains, Munich Angst fails to achieve their goal in maintaining the listener’s interest. Maybe instead of rushing out of the gates and forming the band and churning out a very generic sound for their debut EP, The Blackout Argument should have spent more time fine-tuning their music and composed a more worthy piece.
 
It should be noted that individually there is talent within the group. I feel that Akilli’s vocals are wholly better in For Heaven’s Sake and that Christoph Zehetleitner’s heavy sound and torrid rhythms can be better showcased in Paint The Town Red, but all-in-all, Munich Angst is a weak effort from The Blackout Argument. With a full length release on the horizon, I hope that The Blackout Argument put a bit more time and effort into their sound and as a result make the listening public forget that this EP ever happened.