First there was Breathe Carolina, which Rise Records heralded as the creators of “an entire new genre,” and now there’s Watch Out! Theres Ghosts [sic], an “experimental/live electronics” duo from California. If this is Rise’s idea of signing new, “ground-breaking” talent, I’ve got news for the Oregon-based hardcore label: The new stuff blows. It’s terrible hardcore and mediocre electronica.

Rise was on a roll for a while, with recent additions like Burden of a Day and Oceana (both straight hardcore acts), but the momentum seems to have dissipated. (Hey Rise, looking for a new act worth growing/a chance to redeem yourself for signing up shitty electronica bands? Check out Soldier City Legends–another Florida gem.) Breathe Carolina and WO!TG are especially painful listening when compared to Rise powerhouses Dance Gavin Dance and Emarosa.

Perhaps Rise has a boner for the dance club crowd? Or maybe it’s just jumping on the two-man, screamo-electronica bandwagon? ($5 or a Hot Topic giftie of equal value says Rise offers to sign EATMEWHILEIMHOT! before the end of the year.)

Photo courtesy of Watch Out! Theres Ghosts’ Myspace page.

If Breathe Carolina is any indication of the direction in which hardcore is headed, EATMEWHILEIMHOT! is either ahead of the curve or trying desperately to catch up (notice that EMWIH & BC share a thing for dirty-boy glamour shots).

EMWIH’s early releases suggest that the members of the band (one of whom is Nevershoutnever’s Christian/vegetarian Christopher Drew) opted for sampling chunks of the styles that influenced them instead of coming up with a coherent sound of their own.

The only two tracks I’ve listened to more than once contain geeky screaming and deathcore growls, super-slow, doom-metal breakdowns, lots of palm-muted rhythm lines, sparse electronica beats, judicious use of double-bass, and saccharine pop-punk choruses. There’s even a pirate “Argh!” somewhere near the end of “Two Armed Man,” and a tribute to Leave it to Beaver The Andy Griffith Show in “The Point.” But neither combination amounts to much. If I want hardcore, I’m going to listen to Burden of a Day, Oceana, or Underoath, or five or six of the other bands that do the crowd proud (and if I want new hardcore, I’m going to listen to Hand to Hand–post forthcoming). There’s better pop, too, like The Academy Is… (see next week’s City Lights) and Emery. And it’s telling that the more-focused “The Point” is a better song.

Ultimately, the price of being artsy–if mindless eclecticism counts as art–totals up to a limited true-fanbase, a possible quick rise to indie fame, and ultimately, obsolescence. So long as they’re working off a gimic, EMWIH will never hear their songs on indie FM stations, and I doubt they’ll release anything  beyond an EP. In other words, if they last more than a season, it means that EATMEWHILEIMHOT! will have picked a genre and stuck with it.