Describing themselves as a “spazzy, hardcore rock and roll band from Leeds,” Pray For Hayden come across like a far poppier version of The Blood Brothers. Whilst the guitars are full of rage and the vocals raucous, the songs themselves have a little too much structure for a band that claim to be spazzy. Interestingly, the band proclaim the likes of Weezer and At The Drive In as influences, which was kind of what I was thinking the band sounds like when I first started listening to this CD-R demo – the melodic parts are pretty good, while the more chaotic guitar parts are loud and disjointed, although perhaps maybe not as much as the bands they would like to sound like, if that makes any sense.
This is a reasonably short demo but shows plenty of promise. The production is decent and the mix is about right too. The songs themselves show confidence in their own ability, switching from scything guitars to rumbling basslines in a flutter of an eyelash. Pray For Hayden have already chalked up gigs with the likes of Johnny Truant, Jarcrew and Walls of Jericho, so they are certainly on the right lines. This CD shows plenty of promise and scores a very solid 3 stars – but I feel there is more to come, especially if the band find their own sound rather than a selection of bands that they like.
www.myspace.com/prayforhayden
Paul