Biog details for Operation FM are a tad sparse. The quartet cites the South East of England as base of operations (pardon the pun) although an appearance on local radio in King’s Lynn and a lot of gigging in Cambridge would suggest that you can probably narrow that down to East Anglia at least. This three-tracker was released at the tail end of last year and since the band seems to have been quietly holed-up.
‘And I Never’, then, proves to be a brief foray into pop-rock. On first impression, the opening title track comes across like Blink 182‘s self-titled material being merged with Taking Back Sunday. After a few more spins it starts to sound like the current batch of electro pop-rock bands without as much of the ‘electro’ (think Exit Avenue sans synth). There may be a hint of Hiding With Girls in there, or maybe this reviewer is suffering apparitions of the past.
‘Til Death, Let Us Dance’ is essentially a neat and tidy package of radio-friendly pop-rock that wouldn’t be out of place sitting alongside Elliot Minor or Madina Lake. Closer ‘Don’t Break Me’ tends to tread the middle ground between the two.
For what it is, there’s not all that much particularly wrong with this record. The melodies are decent enough, the vocals sound good (although possibly slightly too high in the mix) and the lyrics don’t cause any mental malice. But ultimately there just seems to be a little bit of a plodding feel to the tracks. This is the sound of a support band that whilst being fairly tight never takes more than the odd fan from a headline band. There’s no sense of downright force here, and most of all there’s very little to set the band apart from the myriad of bands out there playing this type of music.
Alex