Last Chance to Save the World EP,
Floating Face DownThis Oxon based five-piece provide an interesting change from what I’ve been listening to as of late. A lot has been said about female vocals in punk bands, personally I’ve never had a problem with it if it works but this is the same of any vocals surely. Anyways, this band described as BOY SETS FIRE meeting TSUNAMI BOMB, certainly provides something interesting.
Opening track ‘And What Comes After’ does in fact sound reminiscent of BSF in the way it kicks off with a meaty and thrashy riff, good stuff indeed. When the vocals came in it really sent me as I wasn’t expecting them to sound as seductive and as clean as this. Clearly they have themselves a talented singer but whether her vocals fit is another question; I think however it is the way they’re set out of the mix slightly in the production which makes it sound a bit odd in places.
‘So Near’ is more of a punky affair and the vocals sound more at home here in their super melodic way. The song however is generally disappointing as it sounds quite scrappy which lets the side down, although again the production isn’t really doing them any favours; it just doesn’t sound very compressed.
The third track, with a title I can’t be bothered to type as it’s too long, is more of a ballad which in places reminds me of cult American rockers, GIN BLOSSOMS, I think it’s something about the heartfelt manner in which the song is sung rather than anything else, same can be said of track four (what is it with these mad song titles!! ‘20 Past Midnight: The Hour of Lost Souls and Lost Loves’!!) which is equally melodic but with a bit more of a rockier edge with some punky breaks.
Whilst this band show their talent and the opportunity to shine, I feel they are held back mainly from the quality of the recording. It is essentially quite scrappy which doesn’t really give them a huge avenue of redress as they sound like they’re still developing their sound and it can result in a bit of a patchy listen in places. But the slower indie-rockier moments are more pleasing in terms of comfort as the band sound more in their element here as opposed to the thrashier moments.
Mike
