You ever wonder why so much of the photographry on Dischord releases and in their catalogs is in black and white? I'm pretty sure color photography existed back in the late 80s when Fugazi released their self-titled album and the "3 Songs" 7". So why do both have black and white photos on the cover? Why is so much of Instrument black and white? Was it just more punk to be archaic? Or was it something about distilling the images to black and white which better conveyed the feeling of the music and scene at that time?
Fifteen years later and post-punk is having a sort of come-back, but few make direct references to all the DC bands, perhaps because Fugazi was able to stay relevant for so long while most of the British and New York bands simply came and went. Well, Tristan da Cunha hasn't forgotten about DC hardcore. They play it fast, hard, and loud, but in a completely anti-fasionable yet accessible way. Ask Tristan da Cunha about the black and white Dischord photos, and they'd read the feeling of isolation that was such a part of the underground hardcore scene of that time. Even their band name riffs off this feeling of isolation, as Tristan da Cunha is a name of an island due west from South Africa that Guiness marks as the "most isolated inhabited island in the world."
So the key question is, when I listen to Tristan da Cunha's reinterpretation of 15 year old DC hardcore, do I feel nostalgic? Do I feel and appreciate it on its own merits? Or am I just disinterested? Turns out its more of the latter. While the band has energy and a moderate amount of chops, many of the songs here use a funk-like jittery rhythmic style that mildly annoys and spoken, easily-overpowered vocals that fail to demand the listener's attention. I appreciate what they're trying to do, but I just couldn't get into it.
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