Review by Paul Broome
Not sure what they’ve been putting in the water in Bristol, but it’s rapidly gaining a reputation as one of the rock capitals of the UK, and here’s a debut EP from another band set to enhance the City’s roster.
Opening track ‘Boxcutter’ is a quite a bold little number, initially it wrong-footed me with its 90s rawk intro (which could almost have been culled from an album by A, or a similar band of that post-grunge nu-rock ilk) but once the bouncy bass-line and urgent guitars kicked in I was won over. There’s a lot to take in here – tempo and mood changes abound – perhaps if anything it’s too ambitious. ‘Codeine’ promises a lot as a track, but the chorus really lets it down. I don’t know why, but it just doesn’t do it for me. The final pairing of ‘To Arms’ and ‘Imola’ meanwhile a nothing short of sensational. The former setting the stage, and the latter leaving said stage in flaming tatters. I am a sucker for rock music that wears its emotion on its sleeve (and isn’t afraid of a bit of reverb) and this is so far up my street it’s parked in my garage. The vocals do stray into Cobain territory a bit too often for my liking, but I’m willing to overlook that due to the sheer wealth of ideas and confidence on display here.
Another band added to my expanding ‘Ones To Watch’ list. Could potentially be the South West’s answer to The Virginmarys…
7 out of 10
Tracklisting:
- Boxcutter
- Codeine
- To Arms
- Imola
