SHREDnews

As a long-time reader of SHREDnews I am disappointed with this review. After reading it, I decided to listen to the music at the band's myspace page to see whether or not this was a fair assessment of the EP entitled "[Sharkbear.]". I have to say that I honestly really enjoyed the music that I heard. The band was catchy, yet different.
I felt the need to write a response to this "review" because I was so taken back by it. At the beginning the author, Jess, states "After listening to their EP, I really questioned the quality of their recordings and the structures of their songs." This statement confuses me because the production quality of the recording is actually very good, especially for having listened to it on my computer via myspace. And if by the structure of the songs Jess means that the band does not resort to the standard "Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus" format, then she is correct. The band seems to try and develop songs "out of the box", which is something to be admired in an industry saturated with followers and unoriginal music.
I also have to question Jess' writing ability. Immediately the reader can notice a lack of basic English grammar skills you would expect a "journalist/writer" to possess. Using such language as "I’m all up for any type of music", frequent misspelling such as "The beat is decent to nod you head to" and run-on sentences "Song number five “Between The Bars” which is an Elliot Smith cover, I feel like I can’t say much about this song unless I heard the original to compare it." makes this "review" unbearable to read. Also, if you were to review an EP, and the band was to cover a song, it might be a good idea to listen to the original. In the aforementioned statement, Jess is saying she was too lazy to listen to the original, so she is not going to review "Between the Bars". This si unfortunate for Jess because the original by Elliott Smith is strikingly different from the Park After Dark cover. The song takes "Between the Bars" to a much heavier and darker place than Smith could ever have imagined.
Even if the reader could look past Jess' shortcomings as a writer, as a reviewer she still does not get the job done. Of the song "Simple Remedy" she states that "I really enjoy how the drums start in and how the vocal comes in." Reviewing "I'm Spent" she literally only wrote "The following song “I’m Spent” is a bad recording not that its the band’s fault. I really don’t like the how the wording and the music go together in this song either. I only really like the small slow parts." Looking beyond the poor grammar of the first sentence, what are "small slow parts"? Of "Running on Fumes" she solely states "The only thing I found I liked about this song was the guitar in the beginning." Of Track 4 entitled "Pretending" Jess, apparently a young woman of few words, states "I don’t have much to say about this song except that the bass line is pretty catchy."
How is this a review? Jess wrote one sentence each about 4 of the 5 songs on the EP. And the sentence reviewing "Between the Bars" was merely stating that she wasn't going to review that song.
How can SHREDnews post this review without being slightly embarrassed? I am completely in support of people sharing their opinions. If Jess honestly did not enjoy the EP, than she has the right to write a poor review. But at least write a REVIEW! Major questions that any person reviewing music should answer were ignored. What specifically didn't Jess like about the EP? How did the instruments sound? Vocals? There was no mention of what the songs were about! How can you review an EP and not discuss the lyrics or the message being discussed in the music? What about the artwork and the title of the EP? What about the band itself? Who is Park After Dark? Jess gives a description of the band as "small punk-rock band from Long Island, NY". Are they a punk-rock band? I don't think that I would necessarily classify them in that genre. Who writes the music? How old are they? How long have they been together?

In conclusion, I feel that someone else should review this EP and give a fair assessment of what I believe to be an interesting first recording from a small unknown band.

I've actually seen this band perform at multiple venues throughout Brooklyn and NYC. While I respect varying opinions, I need to ask...is this a serious music review?