I don’t get it. Seriously. I cant see the punch line at all. Is there a punch line? Or are the Epoxies actually serious? Who knows.
No, ok, maybe that’s harsh, but if I wanted to listen to a band play 80’s new wave synth-pop, but do it to a frankly average standard, then I wouldn’t listen to the Epoxies. I’d probably listen to one of the many bands they are emulating from the 80’s. As it is though, I have to listen to The Epoxies to review them.
At their recent UK jaunt with NOFX, I heard many people slating them for being, well, rubbish. This was before I had heard the band and I was a little disappointed that so many people had taken to slagging off a new band doing something (relatively) different on their first viewing of them. However, after listening to the album a number of times, I’m inclined to agree.
The Epoxies are just … well, boring. This could have been a really catchy, inventive retro-style album, but every time I listen to it I just feel uninspired and almost instantly bored. It just plods along, occasionally threatening to be catchy but ultimately failing in any attempt to make an impression.
While Roxy Epoxy does have an enigmatic style of vocal delivery, it’s ultimately all a bit too Kim Wilde for me, and the infrequent flashes of brilliance, mostly with the synth and keyboard lines (certainly not the pedestrian drumming, that’s for sure), are soon extinguished by another change in melody which sounds way too familiar to be exciting.
Yes, it’s something relatively different (but not original), yes it’s mildly refreshing and yes, Miss Epoxy probably makes a great frontwoman, but this just didn’t grab me at all. I can’t see it grabbing many people for an extended length of time or beyond the curiosity factor either.
Ross