I hereby declare a new genre is born! The sun is shining, the nights are light and songs with choruses the size of Africa are the order of the day - The OC-core ™ is here! Ok, I’m ever so slightly taking the piss, but bands like Sherwood, who place clean-cut guitar riffs alongside some really sweet melodies, would fit perfectly on the soundtrack to an episode of the US teen drama TV series. While this 7-track EP, amazingly self-released (but surely a very large label won’t be too far away), is sure to win over a shedload of fans, it is so inoffensive I’m sure a lot of people will find it a little too saccharine sweet for their ears.
Anyway, Sherwood would fit snugly onto any summer mixtape. They have a sound that is too cute to be emo and too rockin’ to be pop, hence the fictitious genre I have thrown them in. Lazy journalism aside, this EP is a corker. Nate Henry’s vocals are sublime, the guitars poppy as hell and the choruses are huge. Opener ‘The Summer Sends Its Love’ is absolutely gorgeous, a sure-fire radio hit if it ever made it that far. Everything about this EP oozes summer and sunshine, as if Sherwood listened to Spitalfield but turned up the cute notch several times over. ‘Please Wait Up For Me’ has an awesome lead guitar riff that mimics the backing vocals, as well as a chorus to die for. Nate’s vocals are again the band’s secret weapon, maintaining that pop-meets-emo/rock tag that they’ve managed to net themselves. The sampled loop which starts off ‘Pray Forgive Me These Mistakes’ has a little bit of Mae about it, while ‘(Anything) You Choose’ is a stormer.
Give me this CD, a desert island, a good book and some sunshine and I would be in heaven. There’s nothing groundbreaking here and nothing that will change the world, but what Sherwood do is write simply fantastic pop songs. Ryan, Summer and the rest of The OC gang would be proud, and at just seven songs it doesn’t outstay its welcome or begin to become annoying. If this is the sound of the summer, it’s set to be a scorcher.
www.sherwoodmusic.net
Paul
