With comparisons to Streetlight Manifesto biting at their heels, the newest release from Dublin-based CHEWING ON TINFOIL, ‘Shaving’, doesn’t do much to dissipate the image. Fortunately, being compared to Streetlight is prestige in itself and though the similarities are there, Chewing On Tinfoil still have a pretty distinctive sound. They’re rough around the edges and benefit from being so; rich harmonies with a rightfully Irish feel, perfectly demonstrated in ‘Forty Shades Of Grey’.
It’s a definite step up from their last release – the energy is as rampant as ever but more focused, which gives ‘Shaving’ a great feel. Five songs of fast-paced ska-punk, with the exception of the smooth two-tone ‘I Was Here, But I Disappear’ make the EP highly recommendable. If anything, it hits the spot that their previous full-length ‘Get Rich Or Try Dyin” didn’t, by being so tight. There are no weak songs on this release to drag the others down, so from the rambunctious opener of ‘The White-Washed Blues’ to the frenetic last stand of ‘Shaving’ the power doesn’t let up. A fantastic taster of an EP that whets the appetite for more from this band.
Josie Martin