The Fallout Theory are from Malvern way and they play songs akin to The Movielife in their early Drive Thru Records guise. It’s a poppy brand of whatchamacallitcore, that’s probably too ‘hard’ to be pop punk and too ‘soft’ to be post-hardcore or emo. ‘Time To Move On’ is the band’s latest demo and is pretty damn good for what it is. True, this type of music has been diluted by the sheer weight of bands peddling the same old sound, but TFT are at least doing what they do well. The guitars are solid throughout and the vocals are certainly better than average, even if they do lack a bit of personality.
Tracks like ‘Second Guess’ and ‘You Miss Me’ are melodic numbers that beg for repeated listens, and I can easily see this band having a particularly large local following. Whether or not this brand of music is your ‘thing’, you have to admire that The Fallout Theory are good musicians and a solid band. To take it to the next level they need to find their own sound – token acoustic tracks like ‘Part of Me’ suggest a band that follow the trends rather than take their own course. Maybe it’s naivety and inexperience, but if TFT lack anything it’s just their own swagger and confidence.
I’m pretty sure TFT can make an impact on a national level, certainly on the basis of these four songs. While the tracks are not the best I’ve heard all year, and are certainly not the most original, I found myself driving along without ever finding the need to reach for the skip button. And believe me, if you can pass that test (thousands haven’t), you must be doing something good…
Paul