I criticised Have A Go Hero‘s demo because it sounded like it was produced in a cave. While the band had plenty of ideas (albeit generic ones), their sound was disrupted by a poor production job. On their debut release for Lockjaw, this has been rectified and HAGH sound all the better for it. However, you can’t polish a turd and while that phrase is a little OTT for this band, they’re still not up to the required standard, even if this recording is better than their last offering. On that fact alone, they’re worthy of a third chance.
‘Thinking Of Names For J’ sounds like a cross between Taking Back Sunday, Brand New and the Smashing Pumpkins. Although (obviously) it’s never as good as any of the three. The band didn’t enclose a tracklisting with the CD – so I can’t reference songs specifically other than by number – but the 4th song is a really bad TBS rip off. I quite like the dual shouty vocals thing, and the melodies tend to be performed pretty well, but it’s so cliched it’s unneccessary. The worst thing is that the track before sounds nothing like Taking Back Sunday at all – it’s almost like the band don’t quite know which genre or sound they want to call their own and so throw themselves at a couple.
The identity crisis is apparent during the first song too, as the band comes across like Brand New and The Early November – lots of melodies but none of them quite up to par. It’s decent stuff, certainly listenable, but it doesn’t make me sit up and go ‘wow’. There are already too many bands that sound like Have A Go hero, so either bands of this ilk need to write immaculate songs or try something a little different. HAGH have tried to be a little different, but end up sounding like three different bands rather than one trying something off the wall. On the plus side, this is better than the last demo and so it does show encouraging signs. But with a plethora of mediocre shouty bands around, the world doesn’t need any more. They keep coming, I’ll keep knocking them back. School report card says C+ – must try harder.
www.haveagohero.co.uk
Lockjaw Records
Paul