Indie Focus: Messgram’s ‘Cheers For The Failures’ delivers an aggressive fusion style with appealing vocals

Messgram‘s last release I heard was Eternal Craving and looking at the band’s releases, I didn’t know that they have been generally quiet since that EP came out in 2016. There have been OST tracks, but Cheers For The Failures is the band’s first full length.

Musically, Messgram uses a mixture of screamo, metalcore, hardcore, and pop punk together. Jiyoung‘s vocals are a big draw in Messgram’s music. It fits the general orchestra-esque verses and flows naturally over all the songs. She also focuses on presenting solid vocals backed by Jahnny‘s back-up vocals. I’m assuming it’s Jahnny because that’s who I saw in the music video.

This style of music had a lot of popularity in the United States in the heyday of Warped Tour, but the screamo genre and all its tangent genres have moved outside of the mainstream. Cheers For The Failures fits within the genre perfectly. “Rockstars” and “Karma” are the lead singles and really showcase everything the band is about. Both songs have similar elements, but differ enough to show different sides of the band.

“Rockstars” is very pop punk mixed with hardcore vocals. The added synth elements give the song a little more depth, but you’re really not getting something overly complicated. It might be a simple song, but has all the catchy elements it needs. I think “Karma” is the better of the two singles. Mainly because it enables Messgram to show more power throughout each instrument.

I also have to mention, Messgram are firmly entrenched in their sound and style which leads to a bit of repetition. “Signal” might showcase excellent vocals, but as every instrument needs to have a place, the song does get a little bloated. Not every track needs to be a symphony, which is a weakness. Every song following the two single is solid and fun to listen to, but there’s nothing that really stands out from the singles except maybe “Omen.”

Messgram are definitely able to match the power and talents of other related genre bands and they have honed and polished their sound into a great debut full length. The problem that might come up is, have old fans of this genre moved on and can Messgram find the audience who will help the band grow over time.

======

IATFB says: This is extremely my shit. If you have the means, these are the kinds of groups that need your support to stay afloat.

You can buy the album on Bandcamp above, failing that you can at least follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.