Full Disclosure: I know a couple of these guys. Not only have I shared the stage with them, but their current bassist, who I have played in two different bands with spanning well over a decade, is one of my closest friends. Please accept these facts as my best effort to inform you in advance of the potential for biased sentiment that may be presented in this review. Having said that, know that it is still my objective to give an honest assessment of the release.
Now let’s talk Castoff! Depending on your age, you may not be aware of the fact that things like digital recording, amp modeling, and autotune weren’t always around. While I appreciate all of these wonderful technological tools at times, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t sometimes miss the in-yer-face, raw punk rock recordings from the days of old before the MacBook revolution. On their latest release, we have Castoff providing a welcome reminder of that earlier time.
First Step to Recovery was tracked with the band’s actual gear. While this statement seems like a “duh” comment, most bands don’t do this anymore, and it sure is nice when what you hear at a concert closely reflects a band’s recording. Such is the case with this album as I saw the band perform many of the songs at the Til Two Club just before they entered the recording studio. Not considering the writing process, the album was recorded over the course of two weeks at Fletcher Dragge’s studio in Hermosa Beach called Screaming Leopard Studios. Rather than lavish it up with studio trickery Castoff gives you something much more pure. Let’s call it Walter White’s blue scante.
The album opens with with one hell of a banger titled Perception & Honesty and it might be my favorite track on the release! Castoff wastes no time showing you exactly what the band is about as Josh Kidd slays the drum kit with complete proficiency! …and let me get this out while I’m on the topic, Josh is a really good punk drummer! Bill Hockmuth and Ron Santiago provide the fast, melodic, thrashy guitars, and equally as important, the creativity. Every band, if they are doing their job should have some element you can pinpoint that sets them apart from other groups. One way Castoff does this is with how they phrase their guitar riffs. It’s difficult to articulate, just know that the main riff on the opening track will melt your face like a stick of butter in the microwave! Above all, you’re not going to listen to it and say, “hey, that riff reminds me of (insert similar sounding band)”. No, it’s unmistakably Castoff and it shreds! Bill’s lyrics are on point as he explains, “the problem is functionality based on lies!” Pointing out people’s fake and shrouded ways, he delivers a dose of lyrical realness that struck me as insightful and observant while at the same time reinforcing the very way First Step to Recovery was recorded…honest and pure.
The next two tracks keep the pace going and have some good highlights worth mentioning such as the hairy/dissonant intro to Revocation. Flatted 5th’s, an ambulance siren guitar-lead, and half-time drum crushing take you into another swift tempo that crescendos at 2:30 with a furious minor-progression-standard and Bad Religion-esque celestial vocal harmony to close it out. Track 3 titled Selective Memory kicks in immediately following with many of the same elements one would expect from Castoff and there’s a hard hitting break-down at 1:29.
At this point in the album, with the first three songs identically paced, Castoff switches things up on the title track. It was a good idea in theory as it may have been exhausting for the listener to hear another track with the same tempo, but First Step to Recovery is a bit of a droning song particularly in the vocals. …and it’s a bummer because as I listen to it, I hear many opportunities for variations in the vocal melody. It just doesn’t happen and after an awkward key change/bridge it brought me to the brink of irritation until the 2:00 mark where the song finishes with a solid instrumental breakdown featuring some nicely layered lead guitar sustains and 7th & 9th fret guitar harmonics. On a more positive note, this song shows what I would consider to be a new side to Castoff and it would be worth it for them to pursue it in future recordings.
The band gets back to their comfort zone on the following tracks as they put forth more of a Propagandhi vibe by utilizing some snarky shouts and guitar chromaticism on Capitalize as well as a cheeky jazz intro on Haterz Gonna Mate. They also take another shot at a mid-tempo track titled Forget Real Life in which the vocals are a bit annoyingly out of key, but Bill and Brandon trade off on leads which makes for an interesting dynamic and in some ways saves the arrangement. In total, First Step to Recovery features 10 tracks with a blazing opener and some hits & misses along the way until is closes with another stand-out.
At the beginning of this review, I cited Perception & Honesty as possibly being my favorite track on the album. I indicated that it *might* be because the closing track Certain as the Sun gives Perception & Honesty a run for that designation. Bill and Brandon trade off vocal duties again with a compelling chorus and one of the more seemingly effortless and pleasing melodies on the release. The song has some hard hitting accents, a showy guitar solo, and a clean channel outro featuring jagged minor 3rd chording, some additional flashy lead guitar work, and a rim shot drum groove giving yet another glimpse of the band stepping out into new territory.
Capped with two amazing songs serving as brilliant book ends and demonstrating the band’s best work to date, this album will get a fair share of spins on my music player. Castoff keeps getting better with every outing and I can’t help but be excited for what’s to come from these men!
3.50 out of 5 SDP Skulls
Artist: Castoff
Album: First Step to Recovery
Release Date: February 10, 2016
Label: Bird Attack
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Reviewed by Todd Dulawan
