SELF-INTEREST:
Blooming: EP
I seriously rarely throw around comparing a band to Black Flag, but I do hear a strong Black Flag influence in Self Interest. In no way are they some direct-copy, glorified tribute band. It’s more in the sense that they absorbed the influence and built something of their own from that. It’s like Flag meets Econochrist and Born Against. They have the rocking riffs that crush as well as move, a sinister guitar sound, and then they have some strange time changes that are not typical in most hardcore, where the usual MO is to write a verse/chorus/verse song that runs in a straight line. Not the case here. Self Interest have some riffs, rock like mad, and then they sometimes take a sledge hammer to the structure and knock shit around. The song “For You” is a good example. Time changes galore, where it’s up and then down and all back again. Very manic. Then they throw in the Ginn style guitar near the end to add a little salt to the venom in the lyrics. The title track has a great riff that pulls you in and gets you lost for the whole ride. The opener, “Standards,” is a perfect introduction, as it contains the various elements that are fleshed out in more detail later on in the record. Killer riffs and tweaking the formula. –Matt Average (Pass Judgement, passjudgementrecords.com)