Another day, another demo. Goodbye Denver come from southern England, so I’m not entirely sure why their name refers to the Colorado city, but there you go. The band are a four-piece who play very Americanised skate-punk in the style of Rufio. It’s poppy, it could be fantastic, so go work it out from there. This is a band that you will despise if you cannot stomach English bands and Yank accents, so be warned. If, like me, it doesn’t really bother you, then there are plenty of high points to take warmth from. The guitar parts are inventive and fast, the drumming solid and the basslines are good too. The production is decent enough for a demo and the sound – musically at least – is fairly impressive.
The main sticking point are the vocals. Now the American influence is so obvious it’s actually not that choking, but the quality of them is simply horrific. Even the most basic notes are out of reach and there’s a non-existant personality. Because bands such as this are a ten-a-penny, you need a decent frontman to bring the songs to life. Goodbye Denver have a leg-up because musically they sound promising, but with a vocalist who struggles to exude confidence and who cannot hit the important notes, everything falls apart. Rufio do this kind of thing well because their vocals, in my opinion, are strong enough to offset the lead guitar parts. The melodies and harmonies work well and there’s an energy which sucks you in. As they stand, Goodbye Denver have half of that – they have the talent muscially, but lack polish, confidence and energy. Oh, and the vocals need a lot of work too…
www.goodbyedenver.tk
Paul