It’s always hard reviewing a local band, whether it’s the aggressive glares in the pub or the praise and thanks for a good review, it’s attention that seems unwarranted for an opinion. Why Paul gave me this I don’t know, I can guess that it was simply a cruel joke, thanks Paul. 😉
I remember when I first heard the name “May 16“, my first thoughts were “Lagwagon tribute band?”. Now, I know they do share a love for Lagwagon but I wouldn’t really say they sound anything like them musically. They play a Pop/Skate-Punk type affair but it has a lot more in common with MxPx than anyone else.
Opening track “LK” is a poppy number sounding like it came straight out of Venice Beach, California. It sounds a lot like the type of stuff Kung Fu Records would put out, but it doesn’t sound particularly American in the vocals, which is always a good thing in my eyes (or should that be ears?). “Unclear” takes on a more traditional rock’n’roll feel. Sounding not much unlike the slower rock’n’roll Ataris songs that they used to do. The guitar solo even reminds me of said band a little bit. “Within Myself” takes on a much more aggressive feel, sounding quite a bit like MxPx circa “Pokinatcha” just a little bit slower. This is a quite dark number, with some great guitar work in the middle, there is nothing wrong with this.
The next track, “Underground” has a great opening guitarline which sticks in your head like a Cheeky Girls song, complimented by fast drumming and a minimal feel before bursting into a massive chorus. This has to be my favourite song on the CD, it retains the poppy feel of the rest of the CD yet has a more powerful feel due to the chorus which would have sounded great if they’d added some shouted backing vocals or “Hey!”s, but that’s probably just me being picky. The final track on this EP is “Just Another Different Story” has a nice bassline, followed by yet another catchy guitarline, which I could listen to all for quite some time. I can imagine this song being something of a live favourite.
May 16 aren’t exactly anything new, and they’re not going to set the world alight just yet, but they do have some promising and catchy ditties hidden within their songs that have the potential to some them mature into a good band.
Phil