Signed to Maverick, Evaline were discovered and have been nutured by Quinn Allman of The Used, although they don’t really sound too much like the guitarist’s day job. Instead, Evaline mix the melodies of a Jimmy Eat World and mix them with the visceral feel of a band like Thursday. Of course Evaline are nowhere near as good as either, although this EP does show a lot of promise. The choruses are catchy enough to warrant repeat listens, but there’s too much sheen and not enough power for my liking, making this a good record but not a great one.
This is the band’s second release and you can tell they’re a group which appreciate their ‘art’ more than making a quick buck off of a catchy tune. ‘La De Da’ and ‘A Protest In Lines Too Thin To Read’ are decent efforts, the latter in particular features some rather lovely vocals and vocal effects. But while it’s easy to admire what the band are trying to do, the end result isn’t quite as good as it could be. Evaline could go down a Mars Volta route and be a very good and interesting act. But they’re not quite at that level yet.
Paul