If Stand Out Riot aren’t influenced by Sonic Boom Six I’ll eat a hat. Not my hat, as I don’t actually own one, but if someone chucks me a trilby or a trucker cap I’ll devour it with glee. It’s not that SOR sound like a carbon copy of those loveable Streetfighting Mancs, but in terms of song structure, female backing vocals and the use of horns sparingly yet lovingly, there’s more than a passing nod. And the best thing about this short, little EP is that although no-one manages to stand up to SB6 in terms of being quite so unique, Stand Out Riot have a really good go and come off well.
‘vs the Oxbridge Mafia’ is obviously influenced by a lot of bands, not just SB6. There’s a bit of Big D in there, a little Leftover Crack, possibly even some Catch 22 and Rx bandits. The fact the band clearly listen to a lot of music shines through on ‘Beach Week’ which jumps around with boundless enthusiasm, switching from the schizophrenic to the downright jazzy in the flick of a pedal. The vocals border on the rapping style that Barney SB6 has trademarked and the fact the girls in the brass section can add their own slant makes Stand Out Riot all the more interesting.
Whether they could maintain it over the course of an album or not is questionable, but you cannot slate Stand Out Riot over the course of the three songs here. There’s a fine line between eclectic and a mess but they’re on the right side of the fence and should be given two thumbs up for trying to forge their own sound in a very crowded genre.