Bigger Than Rik Waller,
A Close LastA Close Last are a five-piece outfit from Glasgow who have been together since September 2001. The band have gained themselves a decent following in the area and have been playing regularly in the city’s many venues, as well as making the odd trip south of the border. ‘Bigger Than Rik Waller’ is the title of their latest demo, and it features four tracks showcasing a number of musical styles.
On their biography the band mention that they have a wide range of influences, from pop punk bands like Green Day and Blink 182 to heavier outfits like Sick Of It All and Raging Speedhorn. Whilst in theory this is a good thing, A Close Last seem to have felt the need to emphasise this in their demo. So, what we have is a demo that feels very disjointed, due to each track being different in style.
To be fair to the band, much of this demo is solid stuff. Opener ‘Groundhog Days’ is a plain and simple pop punk track, even if it does wear its Blink influence very clearly on its sleeve. Next up is ‘Break Free’, a song that sees the band in slower, dare I say, emo territory. ‘Where Are You Now’ is probably the pick of the bunch and gives a good indication of what the band could be capable of. However, final effort, ‘Snoop Frogg’ is an appalling mess of a song that fails to combine humour and hardcore to any degree.
A Close Last are a band that really need to get themselves an identity. Its fair enough playing around with styles on a demo, but the disjointed feel is not going to make many people sit up and take notice. Three average songs, and one poor, will not make a great impact on anybody.
Mark
