Winslow
The Sand And The Salt EP
6.9
Finally, a band from my favorite actor, Michael Winslow. Known for his fantastic abilities in mimicry, Michael Winslow appeared in such top shelf movies as Police Academy, Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment, Police Academy 3: Back in Training, Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol, Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach, Police Academy 6: City Under Siege, Police Academy: Mission to Moscow, and most notably, 1997's smash hit, Police Academy: The Series.
There must be some sort of spinable wheel that's distributed to kids that are ages 16 to 22 where there's maybe five or six band names on it. I'm convinced when choosing a sound, this wheel is spun to maybe an upwards of three or even four times. The bands on the wheel are as follows: The Red Chord, Dillinger Escape Plan, At The Gates, In Flames, and Oxbow. No, just kidding, it's probably Every Time I Die or Converge or something. Anyway, Michael Winslow has spun and chosen a blend between The Red Chord, Dillinger Escape Plan, and must've stumbled across some sort of mystery wheel of originality. Regardless of the clearly procured ideas and general attack, oddly, it's not getting on my nerves the way most of these bands tend to. Thinking it through, that could be attributed to the fact that the longest song of this fourteen minute release is only four minutes.
There's some entertaining dynamics to their brand of noise, however. The drums are fast and likeable, the more unconventional riffs still have a place, and Michael Winslow can actually scream fairly well, although predictably, his growls leave a bit to be desired. Structurally, The Sand And The Salt is miles ahead of it's supposed equals, showing some thought was put into songs like the wonderfully named, "Hawaii Schiavo". "Pronounced Like The Animal" has some chunky guitarwork working hand in hand with even the occasional grinding blastbeat.
Still, even being affiliated with this style causes some unavoidable problems. Even with a few defining parts, which is rare in this knock-off genre, they're still substantially faceless. If it means anything to anyone, I'd rather listen to this over The Red Chord, probably; although that's not saying much coming from me. Keep it together, Michael Winslow, and you'll do things even greater than your work in Starchaser: The Legend of Orin, but it's going to be difficult to improve on your lovable role as the radar technician from Spaceballs.
