Forgotten Roots remind me of an Alkaline Trio-esque hybrid of many different bands, just sadly all of them are better. The Newcastle boys have self-released this 7-tracker and, to be honest, it’s a little bloated. Five tracks would probably have been that bit better as it would have trimmed the filler away. And that’s half of the band’s problem – in places they sound quite good, the structures are solid and there are some catchy-ish choruses, but there’s not enough consistency to make the band stand out. If you’re going to try and make people sing along then harmonies need to be nailed and melodies need to be sweeter than a nut. FR try their damnedest to do exactly that but it doesn’t quite work. ‘Jigsaw’ shows promise but in places the execution is a little sketchy, something which sums the band up to a tee.
