Thanks to Sam @
http://www.myspace.com/stockfootagezine"The Pookie Syndrome are a wonderfully odd band. Like a punk band for a B-list horror film.
This self-titled EP wastes no time getting into it; some strange chime-like noises introducing a cracking intro of fast, dissonant hardcore, lead by a really cool bass-line. But The Pookie Syndrome aren’t dissonant in a blatant sense; they’re dissonant in an eerie, creepy sense. Preferring diminished fifths to minor seconds (pretentious music theory thrown in free of charge).
That eerie atmosphere they create gives them a much more interesting edge. And with this, they add the intensity and fury of hardcore, complete with odd, similarly dissonant breakdowns. It’s this hardcore-like intensity that makes me think about some really energetic chase scene in a horror film or something. Track two, “When Apex Culminates,” is a personal favourite.
But another great thing about this EP is that the lyrics are a lot more down-to-earth than you might imagine them to be. “Kaos” seems to talk about consumerism and capitalism, and “The Break” seems to talk about heartache. It’s this that seems to bring them to a personal level. With no disrespect to it, the music seems to be crafted more by theory than plain, raw emotion. But reading the lyrics sheet also gives you something to relate to and agree to, as well as something to bang your head to. Had they written about horror film-esque stuff, it would have fit the music great, but wouldn’t have made them that little bit ‘personal.’ And I like that.
To be honest, my only disappointment with this EP is the running time. Not to sound like a complete cliché review, but a few more tracks along with the four on the EP would be excellent. So maybe if this was a 10” instead of a 7”.
But really, I think these are strong, well-crafted, heavy songs with a good sense of identity, that also benefit really well from the production values (a round of applause for Sven Engdahl). And while I haven’t really explored their back-catalogue, I believe they have even more to offer in the future. Just like Evil Dead did.
Rated: 8.7/10"