We’re among grim times. Today’s hardcore music scene is a sea of repetitive and unoriginal screams, mixed with the I-swear-I’ve-heard-this-before-somewhere instrumentals. Scarlett O’hara’s Lost in Existence is bland in every way possible, doing everything you’d expect from a screamo band, doing nothing at all to make you think “man, these guys are original!” instead of the reality, which is “man, these guys are so boring!”.

From the first track, “Welcome to the Brodeo” to the very last “Where in the World is Earthworm Jim?”, you’d wonder if the first track ever ended. It’s not that they sound bad or awful. It’s just extremely repetitive, and in a genre that’s often called repetitive, this really doesn’t do much to push the genre forward. There are glamours of hope here and there, but they aren’t very noticeable. I did like “You Can’t Wrestle Swordfish in Tampa”, but not for very long, before the band’s fad-inspired style reared it’s ugly head.

They have skill as musicians, but as song writers, they really need to step up and change their style a little bit. Be original. Do something new! Instead of trying to impress the kids by doing exactly what’s “in”, try and impress yourselves by creating music you can actually be proud of. I wouldn’t be surprised if people like this album, but for the rest who don’t, we’d like some new material, please.

In short, if you’ve ever wanted an album with empty lyrics, screams, instrumentals, and the silly song titles that bands are so fond of these days, then enjoy. If not, then steer clear, but don’t give up hope yet. Their sophomore album may be different, after all.