Two Inch Astronaut - "Can You Please Not Help?"

Two Inch Astronaut first exploded on to the post hardcore scene a few years ago with their "Bad Brother" album.  Now, I wanted to like this little album, and there were certainly a whole lot of great things about it.  "Check The Yard" was genuinely chilling and had great tension, and "Blood from a Loyal Hound" was an all around great track.  But tracks like "Sternum" and "Begin Probe" came off just as sloppy and disorienting as the album's cover.  Two Inch Astronaut followed that up with 2014's "Foulbrood", which once again I was on the fence on.  There was almost a Post Grunge feel to this album, and some of the more old school sounding tracks on here sort of frustrated me.  But then there were tracks like "No Feelings" and "Black Fridge Area" that were seriously heavy.  Then, in 2016, Two Inch Astronaut caught me off guard with their "Personal Life" album.  While some of the early tracks still showed the band clinging to their influences, the second half of this album was seriously well done.  There was some seriously great tension built up in these breakdowns, and tracks like "Personal Life" were some of the band's heaviest to date.  It's been a little while since we've heard from Two Inch Astronaut.  These new singles have seemed to me to be a little more focused for the band, which is great.  Let's talk about this new album.

This album starts off with “Kenk”, and for an instrumental intro it’s just sort of ok.  But like, with 30 second instrumentals like this, I never really have that much to say.  This could have certainly been nice if it was a little more flushed out, but without that, it’s just sort of there.  Thankfully Two Inch Astronaut don’t waste any time with the next track, “Can You Please Not Help”.  I seriously dig the riff on this one, it plays very much so to the late 90’s Post Hardcore/Post Grunge scene.  It’s a sound that the band has certainly toyed with for years, but I think this is just about as good as it’s sounded for them so far.  Then we have the vocals, which sort of have an old school Emo feel to them, yet another element Two Inch Astronaut have toyed with for years.  However, as far as all of these sounds go, sounds they’ve worked with for 3 or 4 albums now, it’s never come off this structured.  Overall, this is just a really great Post Hardcore track with solid breakdowns and a great deal of emotion.  “Play To No One” is up next, and has a whole lot of the same elements of the last track.  But this one is a little more playful in sound and has some catchier vocals as well.  I really dig some of the backing vocals during the chorus on this one, the nostalgia factor alone on these tracks is going to be a selling point for people alone.  Now, I feel like these days every other rock band is sort of going for a retro, 90’s sound.  But Two Inch Astronaut have brought their A-Game, and this 90’s vibe is truly next level.  It certainly works for them, and fans of some of the heavier late 90’s acts like Mudhoney are going to eat this up.  

So far, I’ve been enjoying this project a lot, and going into this album I seriously had some high hopes for it.  But then “Lure Coursing” comes along, and I instantly feel like I’m back sitting with one of the earlier Two Inch Astronaut albums.  With tracks like this, I feel like the band are trying way too hard to bring in almost a Math Rock sound.  The result is, like it has been for many years with Two Inch Astronaut, just sort of OK. The guitars are much more rigid here and the vocals don’t come off nearly as enjoyable.  Hell, even the sort of 90’s vibe they’ve had on display so far doesn’t come off nearly as well here.  And don’t even get me started on how ridiculously cheesy that chorus is.  With all that’s going on on “Lure Coursing”, nothing really gets started.  Two Inch Astronaut with the first few tracks sounded so focused, I’m really shocked that it got so lost quick.  “Colesville” is up next, and oh boy, it’s another slow one.  This one more than anything is just seriously awkward to be honest.  I can’t really tell what Two Inch Astronaut are even going for on here.  They try here so hard to make this super emotional Slow-Burning track, but the result is painfully sluggish and emotionless.  There are some strings thrown in on this one, which is usually something I would go crazy over.  But here they come off poorly placed.  And I’ve barely even touched down on these vocals, why the HELL are they so ridiculous and cheesy?!? Thankfully, this track is one of the shorter tracks here so I don’t have to deal with it that long.  But what even genre was this supposed to be?  Clearly it didn’t succeed.   Thankfully, Two Inch Astronaut do get back on track and bring in another seriously great tune in “Snitch Jacket”.  This track is light years better than the proceeding two tracks, and it all comes down to simplicity.  The riffs here are sharp, the breakdowns are really solid, and even when it comes down to the vocals they aren’t nearly as awkward.  “Snitch Jacket” once again is a really decent track once again, and as far as the singles go this is probably Two Inch Astronaut’s best album to date.  But staying focused continues to be a real problem with these guys.  I do really love this track, from the hypnotic riff to the sheer emotion of everything.  

“Not Your Birthday” is up next, and oh boy after all the great things I had to say about the last track, I really feel like they’re trying to be something they’re not on this one.  Once again, we see Two Inch Astronaut working with some seriously overly complex instrumentals and over the top vocals.  They try so hard on tracks like this to be this serious tension building rock band, but I really don’t feel like they do it much justice, and no, these lyrics aren’t doing anything for me either, thank you very much.  “Name Out of Mouth” however is certainly a whole lot smoother.  At least on tracks like this, Two Inch Astronaut don’t seem to be trying way too hard.  The riff here i catchy, and the vocals are just as snappy and retro tinged.  There’s also a total Post Grunge feel to this that I haven’t heard in a while.  So no, this really isn’t that bad at all, especially when you put in to perspective that this track has some of the best breakdowns we’ve heard so far.  It all comes down to Two Inch Astronaut staying focused.  Which is sadly something they really don’t do on “I’ll Leave You Alone”.  This soft intro certainly has me very worried about this one right off the bat.  But the real issue comes in these vocals, like this is seriously VERY cringe-worthy.  I’m down for a Slow Burner, I really am, but you have to do it right.  And “I’ll Leave You Alone” is quite frankly not done right at all.  However, when those added instrumentals pop in, I feel like this one certainly does stat to get better.  But I don’t know, I really can’t get truly invested in this.  “I’ll Leave You Alone” just ends up being a 6 minute (!!!) lackluster slow burner that doesn’t build up any actual emotion.  

Rating: 6.4/10

Give A Listen To:  “Can You Please Not Help”, “Play To No One”, “Snitch Jacket”, “Name Out Of Mouth”

Overall Thoughts: Ugh.  I really REALLY wanted to like this album.  Now don't get me wrong, the singles released from this bad boy were really fantastic, and this album easily contains some of Two Inch Astronaut's most compelling singles yet.  However, the rest of the album was a huge back step for the band.  I seriously thought these guys were so far past making these very convoluted attempts at Math Rock or more emotional music, it just doesn't work.  However, some of you Post-Hardcore or Post-Grunge fans may dig this more than me.