According to the press release, My Cousin Kate won a Metal Hammer magazine competition to be crowned 2003’s best unsigned band. This led to a deal with the Four Millionth Kangaroo label and this resultant EP, their fourth so far. On that basis, you’d assume the band where on the heavy side, and at least play some metal, but surprisingly My Cousin Kate are neither. They actually sound more like Busted than a metal band, featuring some very saccharine sweet songs that really flatter to deceive. If Metal Hammer think this band are the best unsigned band in the UK, they aren’t looking very far.
This three track EP offers nothing to excite or interest. The songs are mid-paced plodders without a hint of melody, while the vocals are strained and often out of key. Witness the appalling ‘Cold Light Of Day’ and the tortured high vocals of Olly Price for the only evidence needed to ensure the band are guilty of crimes against music. The rest is very, very bland indeed. ‘Square One’ comes across like a poor man’s Third Eye Blind, possibly the best comparison I can come up with, and even then it’s hardly a flattering one. To Third Eye Blind, obviously.
This is my first encounter with My Cousin Kate and if I’m truthful, I hope it’s my last. This isn’t really my kind of thing at all, and it’s hardly ‘punk’, but there’s very little here to appeal to any kind of crowd. It’s not catchy enough to be pop, not hard enough to be metal, and not strong enough to be rock. Mark down as one for the bargain basement bin.
www.mycousinkate.com
Paul