I really do enjoy a good bit of Gash, and their last album 'Day Off For The Conscience' was a fine slab of melodic punk rock tunes laden with as many hooks as something a lot of hooks. After replacing a guitarist they've released this 6 track EP on Golf, consisting of 3 covers and 3 original tracks, something which I find greatly frustrating. I suppose it's an easy way to get your music heard and to attempt to gel as a new band, while still trying to find their feet. I just think that it's a little insubstantial as an EP, but maybe that's just me being greedy.
Of the three covers, the first is probably the most recognisable. The Ramones' 'Pet Sematary' doesn't sound like Gash, it sounds just the The Ramones with slightly better production. I always thought that the point of a band paying homage to one of their idols was to take an original slant on their music (I'm not talking Avril-does-Metallica), but this just sounds lazy. Having said that, it's still a good chunk of melody and power chords, and that's no bad thing. '51st State' by the New Model Army is the next cover to undergo the Gash treatment, and it's made all the more poignant by today's world events. Big, catchy choruses are interspersed with more reflective, slower-paced moments that serve to increase the tension and release for the eventual payoff, in typical Gash fashion that sounds like anything from Bad Religion to Consumed. The strangest cover comes in the form of The Cure's 'Lovesong', which is in my opinion the best example of Gash using their considerable talents to put their stamp on a song. I suppose I'd never have associated Robert Smith's band of miserablists with the poppy melodic styles of Gash, but hey, you live and learn. The heartfelt lyrics are ably underlined by the guitar lines that take a break from the constant driving power chords that power through the rest of the EP, and instead take a more technical bent, concentrating on twin melodies and arpeggiating riffs. This results in a larger sound that is immediately impressive, both incontrast with Gash's usual output, and on its own.
So what of the new material? Well, I'm happy to say that 2 of the 3 songs are absolute corkers. Opener 'Mirror Mirror' is typically vibrant punk rock which carries a brooding intensity brought about by the fact that the whole thing is so damn tuneful. It could be Lagwagon or any number of American imitators, but the relentless pace only drops to heighten its own effect. True, there's nothing here (or perhaps on the entire EP) that displays a significant amount of innovation, but there is an urgency in the riffs that just...rocks. 'Blueishgrey' is the most distinctive song on the EP, because it seems like Gash are aiming at a new, larger and more complex sound with a more riff-based approach that's a departure from most of their other material. That's not to say that one style of music is superior in execution, just that it's good to see Gash diversifying, yet still retaining their signature sound.
So what's the verdict? With the presence of one of the original tracks being an insipid and weak punk-rock-by-numbers ('Inbetween'), and only two of six tracks being both original AND damn good it might not sound like 7 Years is any good. But to be honest, the covers are good, if not exactly puching the band to the limit. And while it would most certainly have been nice to have another track or two of original music, this is the sound of a band in transit (not a van). I just hope they can deliver on this promise.
Ben
