When I reviewed There For Tomorrow‘s last EP I remarked how they sounded like Cartel. This record, musically at least, has moved away from the pop sensibilities of Will Pugh and co and is a much more rockin’ beast. Vocally the band do have the kind of melodies that bands like Cartel try and squeeze out, but the riffs and drums are heavier. Metallica they’re most certainly not, but if you’ve heard any of this band’s earlier work, you’ll certainly notice the difference.
‘A Little Faster’ and ‘Wish You Away’ are both very catchy songs and certainly stand out on this album. I gave the EP 7/10 and you may notice this gets the same score. The simple reason for this is that while the band have tweaked, and to a certain extent improved, their sound, they still don’t quite have the songs in their arsenal to take on the bigger guns. The choruses aren’t quite catchy enough to put them on the radio – the likes of We The Kings do this a little better. And while I say it all too often, this band really do fit into the category of ‘good but not great’.
That said, with the summer here there are plenty of singalong moments. ‘Deathbed’ has a strong chorus, as does ‘Stories’. My only criticism is that as the album goes on, everything seems to get a little weaker – the drums don’t hit quite as hard and the vocals tend to blend in song after song. There are better bands and there are worse bands, but if you’re looking for something catchy and fun, if a little disposable, you could do a lot worse than ‘A Little Faster’.