p.s.you'redead shows off a refreshing, subtly captivating and catchy sasscore debut with 'Sugar Rot'.
There will be certain genres that edge towards a fascination with music theory and how much they will bend and blow through melodic patterns for the sake of reveling in ballistic emotional response and eclectic structures without the factor of tightness and clarity. Luckily, certain genres do mesh the eclectics and tight grooves to make the experience more feasible and easy to get into, one of them is sasscore, which takes influence towards genres that rely on chaos such as screamo and post-hardcore and blends it with other influences that take nods towards dance-punk and new wave.
In relation to that genre, p.syou’redead’s debut record showcases a chaotic tendency dipped in loopy passages and subtle melodic and instrumental presence that keeps the chaos to be tight and memorable once it’s given the time to stick. And it sure is sticky, where the screams and shouts that might go out of sync still bruise through, able to make up the themes of the fumed rage towards the abusers and the predators in the punk scene that they detest paired with the dour introspection towards the protagonist’s struggles in their mental health and addiction. It’s convincing, all filled with outrage and bursting fury.
And like Youth Novel with their self-titled record last year, p.syou’redead lays down delicate and slower progressions and instrumentation that makes the tracks leave an impression despite the ballistic wails of pummeling drumkits, seething guitars, and sweet chiptune synths. It also helps that p.syou’redead slips through potent melodic tunes that allow the listener to take focus on that one cycling melodic loop before it progresses into a manic frenzy. The blend of these elements makes some wonderful highlights, like ‘Eyes Roll Like Dice’ with its whirling cacophony, ‘The Mouth of Hell is Lit With Neon’ with its stable tempo and lighter tone that breaks into usual chaos before it sputters nicely, ‘Lucky Skunk Foot (Nightmare, Nightmare, Nightmare!)’ with a looping guitar riff amidst the twittering synth tones, ‘True Confessions of a Former Punisher’ with its ravenous tunes interrupted with a dreamy soundscape and softer singing, ‘No Coffin Please, Just Wet Wet Mud’ with those chopped off progressions, ‘Five Dollar Funeral Cookie’ softening the bleaker breakdowns with an echoing piano melody, and ‘Michael Myres Said “I’ll See You in Court”’ ending off the record with its grooviest melody yet.
While it does flow really well and the band succeeds in making these tracks tight, groovy, and explosive, there could’ve been more of the tightness and variation on the progressions on some songs that runs under a minute. It’s also a bit of an issue on those one-minute tracks that some melodies can sound underwhelming, especially with a song like ‘Sweet Rot’ where the synth-centric instrumentation does not help the rather stumbling melodic lines.
With ‘Sugar Rot’, p.syou’redead is a band that’s worth taking attention for as this record potently showcases their knack for tight compositions, punchy screams and shouts, as well as writing that gets furious. And just like what the title of this record suggests, those who have a sweet spot in this side of rock and metal might want to make sure they come out of the experience just fine, because this record may rot you once you get into this sweet, but harrowing record.
Favorite Tracks: Five Dollar Funeral Cookie, Eyes Roll Like Dice, True Confessions of a Former Punisher, No Coffin Please, Just Wet Wet Mud, The Mouth of Hell is Lit With Neon, Lucky Skunk Foot (Nightmare, Nightmare, Nightmare!), Michael Myres Said “I’ll See You in Court”,
Least Favorite Track: Sugar Rot