Radicus sound like one of those Swedish ‘punk’ bands, like The International Noise Conspiracy or a less poppy version of The Hives. In-your-face vocals with an aggressive guitar and drum attack, the five songs that make up ‘Them Apples’ show plenty of promise for a band on their first release. ‘TV Blindfold’ is certainly a grower, although the production is pretty shoddy and lets this CD down as a whole. Still, thumbs up must go to the band for failing to buckle under a sea of pop-punk or emo bands – these guys stick to their more punk roots and delivering a hi-energy performance throughout each of the five songs.
‘School Of Thought’ is a little punk-by-numbers – it certainly doesn’t have the spark of the opening song – but what Radicus do show is the potential to go on and do something a little different, and that will stand them in good stead. ‘Broke Me!’ is pretty good too, although by the EP’s end the band have pretty much run out of riffs and ideas. Most of these guys appear young and so time is on their side to make further improvements.
Paul