Although our reviews are primarily based on the music, presentation does gain points – and One:Day:Life have plenty of pluses here. The Ipswich trio not only provided a really clear and thorough press pack, all neatly laid out and informative, but their CD is probably more accomplished than many ‘released’ CDs. The artwork is top notch and there’s even an enhanced section featuring music videos and interviews! OK, so maybe that’s a little OTT – but to be honest all of that made this CD leap out from the dozens of CD-Rs that litter my floor.
The threesome play a catchy brand of power pop and the usual suspects (Blink 182, The Starting Line etc) rear their ugly heads in the ‘sounds like’ category. Having said that, while ODL clearly borrow from their contemporaries, the four songs on offer here show a lot of promise. ‘One Shot Nothing’ is well produced and the guitars sound perfect for the kind of bouncy pop-punk on offer. Max Shelley’s vocals are solid enough and the attempt at harmonies deserves praise, even if they are over-done by the end. ‘Don’t Look Down’ has an intro riff that will get local youth clubs bouncing, while ‘Hel Awaits’ is possibly their best song. ODL do have a knack of writing catchy songs, but they are extremely unoriginal. Stacks of bands have done it better – both here and abroad – but at least their having a real good stab and having fun at the same time.
They are by no means the finished article and there are some horribly clichéd moments here, but ODL have provided one of the better demos I’ve come across recently. Clearly good in the studio, it would be interesting to see if they can pull it off live too. A good hard slog on the road would probably win them a lot of friends – after all, this is so inoffensive it’s actually quite nice…
www.onedaylife.co.uk
Paul