Way back in the early nineties I was a big video games kid. The Mario games were huge favourites of mine, but if you wanted a beat-em-up it just had to be the awesome Streetfighter series. The likes of Ken and that giant green Brazilian fella were awesome and the nostalgia in me says that those games will never be beaten in the entertainment stakes. Anyroad, the sound effects were so good that you’d end up yelling “shuriken” whenever you’d pulled off a special move. Now there’s another reason why you would scream out wildly, because the Scunthorpe band of the same name have come up with their first proper EP – and it’s very good indeed.
Playing a melodic emo/pop-punk in the vein of The Get Up Kids and early Saves The Day, Shuriken are certainly not original, but the six songs on offer here are done very well and there’s something about them which makes them stand out from a lot of the turgid rubbish that litters the genre. There’s no heavy screaming parts, this is simple, no frills ’emotion soaked melodic punk’, as they like to call it. From the driving opener of ‘Deflector Shields Down’ to the closing ‘Intangible’ this is just fun stuff.
The aforementioned opener crunches its way through near 4-minutes and is possibly the best song here. With a sugary sweet chorus and an infectious guitar riff, its singalong hook makes it instantly memorable. The ‘Through Being Cool’ era Saves The Day tone of ‘Reaction Time’ carries on the good work, while the darker ‘All In the Reflexes’ shows that the band can flex their collective muscles if needs be. The driving guitars help push ‘Motion Sickness’ straight into your attention, but I suppose the focal point of many people’s attention will fall on the band’s take on the Ricky Martin ‘classic’ ‘Livin La Vida Loca’. I always thought this would suit a ska band more than a band like Shuriken, but to be fair to them they do it reasonably well. It’s fun and you have to give the band the thumbs up for being able to laugh at themselves for covering such a cheesy song. The EP ends with the solid ‘Intangible’ which rounds off an enjoyable record.
They’ve ditched the lego and polished out their sound and Shuriken sound all the better for it. Currently unsigned, I will eat my hat if they’ve not been offered deals by a host of labels by the end of the summer. It’s emo-pop but done very well and certainly worth checking out if they visit a town/city near you.
www.shuriken.co.uk
Paul