On the press release that apparently accompanies this release (I wouldn’t know for certain as I bought this), The Militia Group describe Cartel as ‘your new favourite guilty pleasure’, which would be quite an apt description. Cartel is right out of the cliched, slick, melodic emo rock school that Spitalfield graduated from several years ago, but the fact is they do it all so well that you cannot fail to take at least a partial shining to them. It’s undeniable that ‘The Ransom’ EP is super catchy and will have you singing along for weeks, it’s just painfully safe.
Anyone with a penchance for your Starting Lines and Fallout Boys will fall in love with this EP on first listen. Opener ‘Luckie Street’ has a hint of ‘Bleed American’-era Jimmy Eat World, complete with crunchy guitars and a confident vocal swagger performed by Will Pugh, and it’s all topped off with a sugary sweet production level. It does make it instantly appealing mind, so as much as this will piss some people off for being too produced, records of this type have to have the sheen nowadays. Cartel do have a knack for writing perfect pop songs mind, with ‘The City Never Sleeps’ and an acoustic version of ‘The Fiend’ further showcasing their talent.
Cartel are very, very good at what they do and they maintain The Militia Group’s knack of releasing solid records, but there’s nothing particularly new here at all. I could list a million bands that do this kind of thing well, and whereas a year ago I’d have probably given this at least 4/5, now the quality is being diluted because of the sheer number of bands doing the same thing. The genre pioneers stand out because they’re at the top of their game – bands like Brand New etc – and while Cartel are good at what they do, and ‘The Ransom EP’ is a must-buy if you like your music super slick and melodic, it’s a little too safe for me to give anything higher.
www.cartelrocks.com
The Militia Group
Paul