Considering this is the bands fifth self produced release you may expect something a little more fulfilling and impressive, maybe even something to tell your friends about. But the results are such that you would go out of your way to hide this CD under the washing pile and then make sure said washing pile is stored in a suitcase in the attic. The four tracks are so lacking in anything resembling style and panache it kind of makes you wonder how long it takes for them to come up with this boring mess. The press release is laden with complements from various press sections around the country but I’m struggling to take anything from this EP and the feel of it all been done before and far better is always nagging in the corner of the mind. Save for one decent guitar solo sandwiched in the middle of ‘Back Down to Earth‘ it is a poor start for the four tracks as the patience is stretched immediately as it clocks in at 5.21 of mundane diluted punk charm. Follow up ‘Natural Born Thriller’ fares little better and is a scatty mess of differentiating sounds which do little to help an already jagged and disjointed flow. All this and only two tracks in.
While the music isn’t particularly going to inspire any budding young musicians to up sticks and follow in the bands footsteps, the vocals add little to the package either, often sounding to contrived and diluted to add any real emotion to the song. ‘Popstar/Rockstar’ and ‘Retribution’ end the EP, faring no better than their predecessors in terms of inventiveness, and only go onto show how much of a shame it is that The Authentics have produced such a shoddy four tracks because in terms of playing they cannot be faulted. Although the sound is fairly lacklustre and dull, everything is played tightly and some of the solos almost revive flagging songs from the depths of despair, but any real resuscitation is beyond a simple guitar line and proves one of few saving graces to appear. There maybe a market for this type of roughly produced DIY somewhere, but for this reviewer it just doesn’t cut it in the slightest.
Jay
www.theauthentics.co.uk