Now this was a very welcome surprise. When I ordered the new Vanilla Sky record from Engineer Records, the good people at the label sent me this little EP as well, for free. Now usually free CDs are free for a reason, but ‘Baggage’ is a fantastic little record. Joshua are legendary in ‘emo’ circles and it’s not hard to see why – there are definite nods towards Burning Airlines and early Get Up Kids, yet they definitely maintain their own identity.
From the opening ‘A Better Place’, this 5-track EP is exceptionally enjoyable. This is a split release on Engineer and Spanish label Trece Grabaciones, but the band had previously put records out via Doghouse. The aforementioned first track is a very catchy number, complete with driving guitars and a very memorable chorus. It’s a trait Joshua nail in every song, the verses build up into singalong choruses, making this EP very easy to get into. ‘Repetition Forever’ could have come from The Get Up Kids school of writing catchy songs, while the acoustic version of finale ‘Make It Mine’ rounds off a very rewarding record.
I’ll certainly be checking out more from the band in the future. I believe they’ve now called it a day, but a quick trawl across the net shows there’s a back catalogue to pick up and I shall certainly be doing that. Often the best records we get to review are the ones you least expect to be worth getting excited over – and I guess it shows there’s also such a thing as a free lunch…
Engineer Records
Paul