Our Lives in Black and White,
Failure By DesignAh, skacore, that most maligned of genres. Never properly defined and usually shied away from (perhaps because some ska kids rode the bandwagon towards all things 'core? Answers on a postcard.), it's pleasing to find a few bands trying to bring some respectability back to it. And lets be honest, there's few things better in life than a good guitar line with a well thought-out horn line making it just that little bit more interesting. So Failure By Design give it their best shot on this EP and bugger me with a Ford Cortina if they don't do a pretty good job.
There's nothing particularly groundbreaking about 'Our Lives...' but it does manage to convey a sense of energy that suggests they'd be worth catching live. The scratchy production does them no favours either, so it's a testament to their abilities in songwriting that this EP isn't consigned to some forsaken corner of my CD collection. 'Gobshite' and the title track are the standouts because they bring some new ideas to the table, even if the vocals on 'Gobshite' are too strained and show up the singer's limitations. Confusingly enough this comes off as a positive thing since it shows that they're willing to try a few new things here and there, and once they find their own sound they'll improve exponentially. 'Our Lives...' is a signpost to what is hopefully, a bright future. But then again, they could turn out to be shit. I hope it's the former.
Ben
