Cassette Review: Poomse "This Is How We Fail" (Custom Made Music)

[$8 // http://custommademusicva.com/release/this-is-how-we-fail-cassette/]

In the interest of always writing about things honestly, I must confess that I put this cassette on for the first time (And the times after that) because I really enjoyed the title "This Is How We Fail".   Right now in my life I feel like a failure for many reasons- far too many to discuss here- and so I felt like I could really relate to this based just upon the title.   I was hoping to hear somewhat depressing music with lyrics to match and, well, Poomse did not disappoint.   If anything, this is a great cassette to listen to not when you're young and heartbroken by love but rather when you're older and jaded by life.

From musical influence such as The Honor System and Nada Surf, these songs also bring out some of the darkness of Tom Waits and it just has this overall dark rock feel to it without seeming like this is band that dresses in all black and looks like Halloween (And how fitting I am writing this review on Halloween!)   When I hear music like this, in 2016, I think how back in the 1990's when grunge was around I would have loved to hear a band like this- one of those possible one hit radio wonders with an entire album full of remarkable music such as Dandelion- but the fact that this can still exist in 2016 musically brings me an amount of happiness no one shall ever know.

Lyrically, these songs can't be placed by their titles or even the title of this cassette so much as the lyrics themselves when you're listening to the songs.   It's kind of like how a song can have a line you really enjoy and really seem to hang onto but it isn't the title of the song.   In fact, the song "Plastic Flowers" is among my favorites if only for the line "There is absolutely nothing you can do".   "Plastic Flowers" might be a band name as well, but it has become one of my favorite songs on here not to be outdone by a song which mentions another band name, "Heartless Bastards" (which actually is part of the ninth song title)

Overall my favorite song on this cassette is without a doubt "Anger Management".   It has the subtle melodies of Lou Reed or something you might otherwise hear on the "Trainspotting" soundtrack because it just has a lot of beauty within the sadness and yet at the same time the lyrics are just among the best I've ever heard-- most closely what I can relate to right now from the very first line.   Whether you're a fan of We Were Promised Jetpacks, Death Cab or just good all around rock music then you need to be listening to Poomse.  Fuck, this is their third album.  I have some old music to dig up.