reviews / 2025

SCOWL - Are We All Angels

Name: SCOWL – Are We All Angels
Item: Are We All Angels
Rating: 6.5
Author: Claudio Lancia

2025 (Dead Oceans)

alt-rock, hardcore punk

by Claudio Lancia

6.5

The early releases put out by the Scowl stood out for an aggressiveness hardcore punk vicious, able to take us back in time. Then, after doing the math, checking the mortgage and the bills to pay, and taking careful note of the success of projects like Amyl And The Sniffers, well, the Santa Cruz band decided to soften its sound. A choice driven by the urge to experiment – according to what the band members themselves claim – though that option should, in principle, widen the fanbase, accepting the inevitable backlash from die-hard early fans as a consequence. If the Ep from two years ago, “Psychic Dance Routine” already shrewdly moved toward a compromise, now Scowl try, even more thoroughly, to reconcile their two souls, toning down some of the anger and squaring the circle across the eleven tracks that make up “Are We All Angels”.

While tracks like “B.A.B.E.”, “Fleshed Out”, “Cellophane” and the closing title track remain, all things considered, fairly anchored to the mood hardcore of their early days, and “Fantasy” pushes into engaging grunge-alternative territory, with “Let You Down” or “Suffer The Fool” the intent to smooth out the rough edges and emphasize the melodic side becomes clear.

Kat Moss (kudos for the name choice) remains a compelling frontwoman, backed by a band that knows exactly how to crank up the nastiness when needed ("Special"), but the risk of straying from the original idea still looms over the California outfit's fate. Let's hope the transformation doesn't morph into bland, cookie-cutter guitar indie-rock: in that sense, the test of the third album will be decisive, proverbially the one that tells the truth.

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16/04/2025

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This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Claudio Lancia, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.

Read the original in Italian · About the English edition