Varying vocals keep This Becomes Us' bass-based album interesting. Predominantly created by future of the left bassist Julia Ruzicka, the collective are complete except for a singer and it’s evident they needed some major vocalists to fill in this one, pretty big, gap. So they did. However they haven’t compromised their sound for the stars, just yet.
With names varying from Pixies, The Wytches and Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, to ones we haven’t heard but fit the gothic template just as much, this undoubtedly unique debut is one that’s going to be heard by many. The instrumentals throughout are heavy, and the vocals even heavier. With a Runaways-esque feel to ‘Simple Too’ and an abrasive post-punk one to ‘Undervalue Love’ the album is pretty much something you can never imagine, but somehow vaguely recognise.
However as a collective there’s an uncertainty as to how this all holds together. With no real album elements, except for the odd breaks for more instrumental pieces, and with on-going line up changes it feels more like a mixtape than an LP. Being headed with the debut single ‘Painter Man Is Coming’, Pixies’ Black Francis encompasses the overall sound Ruzicka is trying to create, whilst giving the biggest vocal offering straight up. But the album doesn’t quite follow on from there. From this teaser you’re expecting to hear mellow bass-lead rock, but you’re given a heavier, scratchier reality.
But ‘This Becomes Us’ still works, just depending on how you view it. Perhaps listening to it track-by-track on separate occasions works better. Or just listening to the ones voiced by the artists you know. Either way it’s a piece of musical diversity, and for that reason deserves to be heard.
6/10
Words: Mollie Mansfield
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