By Cora O'Malley
'Regret not.' Spelled out in the tracklist for '68's debut album is a phrase that one could say defines them. It could certainly be seen as frontman Josh Scogin reacting to the demise of his old band The Chariot last year. Barely a week after they played their final show, he was back in the game as part of '68, a noise-rock duo formed with Michael McClellan. They immediately released a debut EP, picked up by No Sleep Records for wider distribution in April of this year. It's now August, and their album is already upon us.
In Scogin's world, there's no room for regret. There's also barely any time to stand still: what would become In Humor and Sadness was already mapped out before the duo had written anything, essentially using their studio time to create the record from scratch. The frantic, hyper-technical music of his old band clearly hasn't left his system yet; while 'Track One: R' opens things on a slightly more conventional note, its bone-dry production and energetic, impulsive changes of meter and dynamics call to mind older material. It's hardly an extension of Scogin's past work, however: '68 are very much their own band.
Tracks were recorded with very little preparation, with McClellan often using the first drum take, and Scogin writing and recording his parts in the same day. The rough-and-ready style even incorporates 'mistakes', apparently left in for a more 'human' feel. 'Track Two: e' makes effective use of choral backing vocals, while there's a bluesy swagger to 'Track Three: g' that's particularly unexpected. For an album completed as quickly as this, there's enough variety to keep it from becoming tiring. Such a flurry of activity could have resulted in a lot of similar-sounding material, but thankfully that's one classic pitfall that's neatly sidestepped.
Throughout the record's 10 tracks there's a sense that the band have already gotten a good handle on what they want to do. 'Track Four: r' shifts from an almost free-form verse to crushing riffs and signature screamed vocals in a manner that's nothing short of captivating. There are also attempts at straight-up alt-rock ('Track Five: e') that would sound stale coming from other bands who are more comfortable with that kind of thing. With '68, though, there's a pleasing rawness to the whole affair. If a bracing, occasionally brilliant noise-rock/post-hardcore mix is your idea of a good time, you're going to feel right at home with In Humor and Sadness. The duo's first full-length possesses a ramshackle charm that suggests they could be on to some great things if they tightened up a little. Don't be surprised if their second album arrives within a year.
