It’s never easy to review something submitted by a friend; it’s even harder when you’ve known that friend for about seven years and he’s a co-writer on your website. They say never to mix business and pleasure so I always try and avoid any such situation, except in this case Mike Scott asked me directly if I would do it and if I would be honest. Ah.
When Mike told me his new band sounded like Consumed, my heart skipped a beat. I didn’t dislike Consumed, I just couldn’t ‘get’ the very British vocals. When I was much younger my punk rock diet was the So-Cal bands on Fat Wreck and Epitaph and I found it difficult to switch from the nasally punk sneers of Fat Mike and Tony Sly to someone from Nottingham, singing in a very distinctive British accent. 10 years ago I made some daft comments on the forums and I know a lot of people, at that time, picked me up on it. A decade on and my attitude to British accents in the genre has mellowed. I’d like to think I’m a bit more ‘experienced’ nowadays. That said, when Mike sings the opening bars to ‘Flight FR5732’ on this EP I did wonder if he was exaggerating his accent and delivery a little bit too much…
Thankfully, for the most part, this sounds natural and not forced. The vocals are distinctly British in sound and the obvious comparison would be Consumed, but it’s not overbearing. The riffs are quick, the drums pound and there are plenty of melodies and backing vocals to bring it all to life. There’s a breakdown in ‘WWJD’ that sounds brilliant and what I like by this band is that they’re not afraid to mix it up a bit. Some of the riffs sound a bit Bigwig-y, others a bit more melodic like Anti-Flag. It doesn’t try and re-invent the wheel, it just does what it does with honesty and power – and in the case of ‘Policing The Police’, with plenty of speed.
This EP is short, sharp and a good debut. It’s honest and passionate and if you can remember the early Phinius Gage stuff and liked it you will almost certainly dig this too.