Album Reviews

Faulty Cognitions comes at you from San Antonio with a melodic punk-driven sound that was inspired equally by the jaunty kiwi rock of bands like The Clean and The Bats and the jangle of early R.E.M.. This leads to excellent songs like ‘Arsonist’ and ‘Worse Than Any Bomb’ and the Pist Idiots-reminiscent ‘Rolling In Your Grave’. Yes, these are not the most uplifting of song titles. Then again, we aren’t exactly living in the most uplifting of times either.

While the music is upbeat and undeniably melodic, the lyrics find Chris Mason (of Dirt Cult Records) dwelling on the concept of “hypernormalization” of the horrors of our everyday world and reflecting on not so rosy subjects such as global capitalism, domestic inequality, and the Palestinian genocide in Gaza with grief and clarity.

There are a lot more musical influences swirling around throughout these twelve tracks. The Cure, The Replacements, Dinosaur Jr to name just a few. And while that could have easily led to a bit of a jumble, Faulty Cognitions have carved out a cohesive album that is a lot of fun to listen to while also providing plenty of food for thought.

They Promised Us Heaven tracklist:

1. Arsonist
2. Be casual
3. Worse than any bomb
4. Rolling in your grave
5. Don't let them see you suffer
6. Rooting for the void
7. Go to hell
8. The only one
9. What you need
10. Tiny god
11. Reckless
12. Enjoy the ride