When It All Comes Down,
Home GrownHomegrown infuriate me. One minute they're the catchiest band in thw hole world, the next they are seemingly mediocre. Their inability to write consistently great pop-punk songs over a whole album is probably the reason why the quartet haven't had the same commercial success as their ex-labelmates in New Found Glory and The Starting Line. 'Kings of Pop', for me, was the case in point - a record with some songs catchier than syphillis in fresher's week, while others made me want to reach for the skip button. This new EP, also released on Drive Thru, is a welcome return to form. Moreover, the five songs here are all of a decent standard, meaning the skip finger has been forced into early redundancy.
'Keep Your Distance' and 'Cross My Heart' are good examples of what Homegrown do best. The melodies are all really strong and urge you to sing along. The drums are strong too, although the vocals do seem a little less emphatic than the album. I'm not sure if that has been done on purpose, or whether it's something to do with the production. A minor point nonetheless. As I said before, consistency is the key this time round. There isn't one bad song here, unlike the album when I felt too many tracks could have been bettered.
Homegrown have a really strong fanbase and those fans are likely to be delighted with their heroes latest offering. It's a strong record choc-full of hooks and melodies. Maybe the band have looked at what went wrong on the last record and worked hard at correcting it. Who knows? What I do know though, is that some of these tracks are among the best songs Homegrown have penned yet - and that is very much a good thing.
www.homegrownonline.com
Drive Thru Records
Paul
