On the Dying Arts’ varied new six-song EP, made up of would-be 7-inch singles, a cover of Crystal Castles’ Alice Practice and bonus tracks, the Toronto rock four-piece peddle something similar to the sounds that were coming out of mid-to-late-90s America: a kind of flatlined rock that draws from the original incendiary grunge sound but is made less interesting by production polish and a style of aggro singing that’s impassioned yet leaves you feeling very little.
As on their 2014 EP, the sound is split between adrenalized, visceral punk with shredded vocals and moodier, layered fare with cleaner singing sung emotively by Mike Portoghese. The punkier side hits with impact, like first single Liar, which also has an impressively cinematic video. The Crystal Castles cover adds a gothier, dissonant edge. Unfortunately the more ambient, mid-tempo rock songs, which could benefit from being trimmed down, make up half of the collection.
Top track: Liar
The Dying Arts play the Silver Dollar on Saturday (November 28).
