Don’t you love it when a bands title really throws you off? Here’s an example, you run into a project called Backstabber and you think to yourself, “This is probably going to be some sort of crazy crust punk outfit or something”. You go to the Backstabber Bandcamp page and expect to see dead babies or dudes in kutte vests covered in studs. Instead, you find autumn colors and a nice header featuring the fall season changing the colors of trees. Now you’re really thinking to yourself, “What is this one track that’s featured on here going to sound like?” Once you click play, all of your reserved thoughts melt into a calming amalgamation of soft meaningful sound.
As stated above, Backstabber only has one track for me to review. If I had to classify this one track, I’d say it is a nice mixture of country and indie. I really dig how the reverberated vocals seem to dance around the calm guitar track. August Harper’s vocal style seems to carry a lot of emotion, which gives “I Think I Won” a lot of depth. I really wish I knew what the lyrical content was composed of, it seems like it would be a good read.
August Harper’s guitar work is nothing short of fulfilling on this track. You’ll hear a lot of calm, melancholy chords being played. Alongside the chords, every now and again you also hear a nice melody jump out at you. It’s definitely a pleasing aspect; I found myself rewinding this track a lot to hear it happen again. As “I Think I Won” comes to an end, you are surprised once more. You get this really interesting, shaky guitar solo that flows into a mixture of piano and synthesizer. For some reason, it reminds me of the more meaningful side of Lynrd Skynrd. Not that it is a bad thing, of course. It’s a great way to send a song to its final moments.
This is the first time I’ve reviewed a solitary track. Though I’m quite pleased with what I’ve heard from it. I really hope August Harper writes more material for Backstabber, as I think it would come with great success in the future. “I Think I Won” is a meaningful, well-written triumph in my book.
Murdered Culture 