According to the blurb accompanying this CD, ‘Derby’s finest bring forth their long awaited debut CD, and what a CD it is. Set to establish them as one of the UK’s finest and most exciting alt rock acts – ‘Reference Points Of No Return’ mixes up British anthems (think Cable, Million Dead, Hundred Reasons etc), with American style sensibilities (think Cave In, Quicksand, Jawbreaker etc), and wraps them up in one big ball of awesomeness. Get it while its hot’.
Now usually I read these press-type concoctions and laugh my size 13 socks off; they tend to have more than a little poetic licence and compare their charges to bands way out of their league. This time, however, the nail is hit right on the head. Derby’s In Flight Program are post-hardcore in the traditional sense – the Quicksand sense. There’s raw, hard-hitting guitars and the snarl and snap of the drums. There’s a bite and aggression missing from so many recors of this type. And in that sense, if you’re after a band that do things the good old ways, you really should ‘get it while its hot’.
Of course In Flight Program are nowhere near as good as Jawbreaker or Quicksand, but the riff-heavy ‘Space Time Adventure’ and the tongue-in-cheek ‘The Obligatory Quiet Song’ are genuine good songs. In researching this record I found many great live reviews and IFP do sound as if their energy would be better transferred in a live setting. This EP, mind, is still a good ‘un and is well worth checking out.