When I first heard Brighton’s Poindexter I pretty much dismissed them as yet another pop-punk band that sang about girls, with a rather dated silly sense of humour. Although their first EP, given three-stars on this very site, was ok, it was saved by a moment of magic called ‘The Sure Thing’ – a track which took itself far more seriously and made the band sound far better. Thankfully their second EP, ‘Would Like To Meet’, ditches most of the bad bits and is a whole lot better.
At just four proper tracks the EP is light but the quality per song is far better than that first record. ‘Are We There Yet’ is a cracking piece of emo/pop-punk, coming across like The Starting Line given a good shoeing up the bum. The vocals are better, the guitars sound better and the parts are better formed and not quite as obvious as the first EP. All in all, the first song on this record is a good start. ‘Breathless’ is a decent song, but a little emotional-by-numbers. A pleasant enough track but it lacks the vital ‘x’ factor that would set it apart from many of their peers. In essence Poindexter are like their South Coast buddies in Not Katies – except NK have songs with big hook-filled choruses and Poindexter, as of yet, don’t.
Having bizarrely taken my advice when I stated previously that the boys should write from the heart, ‘These May Not Be The Best Times’ has a fantastic tortured vocal and is a bona fide good song. Not quite up to the standards of ‘The Sure Thing’, but still, I quite like it. The Sega-influenced ‘Alex Kidd In Miracle World’ starts off with the theme music to the 80s game, not only giving me a nostalgia blast but also linking well with the driving guitars. More up-tempo than the other tracks, the melodies sound fantastic and the drumming is top-notch. A great song to end things on.
Poindexter still haven’t quite cracked the formula, but there’s enough here to warrant your ears. Put the two EPs together and you have a decent band. Another step up on the third EP will probably propel them into the reaches of the bigger UK labels, but until then they fall just a little short. Promising stuff mind and ones to keep an eye on.
Paul