The term ‘DIY’ is bandied about a lot in our humble scene, but Scottish rockers ‘Given’ know a thing or two about the subject as the five tracks featured on the disc were mixed by a producer in training and recorded at their local rehearsal studio in one ten hour session. If nothing, it certainly shows how hard the youngsters in the UK are working at this punk malarkey… But unfortunately this CD isn’t a great advert for the great unsigned, and lacks that special something to set it apart from the glut of competitors the band face all over the country, and it looks as if it may just lose its mark in the dog eat dog world of unsigned acts.
Opener ‘2-5-4’ was the first song the band ever penned and it is a fairly solid if unspectacular start to the proceedings as the guitars quickly dominate the sound and feel of the band. From here on in we are presented with a very mixed bag as we go from some strong darker efforts such as ‘Win or Lose’ to some that simply fail to ignite any imagination and need from the listener such as ‘Murder One’. The sound of the quartet becomes quickly familiar after all but a couple of listens to the first couple of tracks and the lack of diversity could be cited as to where the band are tripping up somewhat. It isn’t all bad though as the live tracks inserted on the end (‘Blood Sex Lies’, ‘We are One’) both show hints of something about the band which is ultimately stronger than what was laid down on the record for this particular release. And in the form of ‘Assassin’ they have performed a downright annoyingly catchy track with a corking finale in the final seconds to send a shiver up anyone’s spine.
Maybe I am being a little harsh as this band certainly have bled their hearts for the cause, but for the time being it just isn’t quite up to the mark you may expect as the bar continually gets raised for unsigned acts. For ‘Given’ the only way is up.
Jay
www.given-uk.com
