Review: Not So Broken – It Is What It Is [EP]

Hailing from the shores of Long Island, New York, Not So Broken have been jamming away at the coalface of pop-punk since 2005. Their recent EP It Is What It Is shows that those 8 years haven’t been in vain.

The tingling guitar intro to opener ‘CHALLENGE!!!!# emanates the energy which this 5-piece so effortlessly exudes and gives an indication of the sort of raucous, raw joy they have for the music they play. The heavier verses laced with expert drumming underlie a smattering of lyrics poised to tug at teenage heartstrings. The disturbingly accurate hammer-ons and pull-offs on ‘Masterpiece’ echo the intro to pop-punk stalwart M&Ms by blink-182, and the jumpy bassline on ‘Don’t Go Bragging to Your Friends About This# carries on this feeling. Tempo changes galore executed to perfection give the impression that this is a properly tight band ready for more. The EP’s lead single, ‘Ocean City’, is the sort of tune you can imagine playing in the background at a beach-hut cafe, or blaring from the speakers of a beat up estate car crossing the desert. (apologies for the cliché on my part, just indulging my old pop-punk fantasies) The video also features an appearance from the terrifying soldier-doll man from the EP’s cover; not for the faint hearted! ‘Reckless Fun’ begins with a slightly sombre piano intro which is swiftly blown away by heavy guitars and Lisa Giosi’s rampant vocals; a fantastic heavy number with spot on basswork from Justin DelGiudice who I must say also sports fantastic facial hair! A cracking build up towards the peak of this song adds to the feeling that these five know what they’re doing and play in a common mindset. Closer ‘We Sell Artwork’ is dusted with sugary-sweet riffs which grasp at the sweet tooth of any reminiscing 20-something-year-old yearning after their youth.

If I had to sum up this EP in two words they would be this: ‘Aye, grand!’ A very pleasant and promising set of songs from a quintet who clearly love what they do.

4 out of 5 high fives!

Juna – Heteroglossia [EP]

Over the years the town of Athens, Georgia has given the world a fair amount of college-rock and indie bands.  Alternative stalwarts R.E.M. hail from its shores (yes I’m using that expression despite the fact Athens is thoroughly landlocked) and in some ways Juna could be their natural successors.  Their new EP Heteroglossia draws on R.E.M.’s rattly, reverb tinged sound but adds to the mix a progressive element with impressive results.

The chilling first chords of album opener ‘Notes on a Penance’ course down the spine in anticipation of the heavier-handed guitar of the first verse.  This fierce fret work bookends smoother bass-and-drum interludes and the whole aura of this piece lends it an air of Floyd-esque prog rock but with a slightly unhinged element. Throughout the EP, an ominous darkness prevails, elements like the chorus of ‘Solemnly Swear’ sound almost akin to Black Sabbath.  These moments are always held down to Earth by the more laid-back air of tracks like ‘A Passage’; looser in composition but no less enthralling. The captivating nature of the songs is helped no doubt by the swapping tempos and sounds.  Early Muse-ish static noise tricks are not uncommon, alongside tones which wouldn’t sound out of place on that Josh Homme-produced Arctic Monkeys album from a few years ago.  All the while the drums give the listener a feeling of being perched quite precariously high up, on the verge of some massive drop. However, ‘A Passage’ sees the band sway into a different territory.  This is more abrupt, reflecting the subject of the song, and seems to cross guitar sounds that would be at home on a Tame Impala b-side with further elements of Humbug.

This is a promising EP from a band relatively unknown on UK shores, but by combining influences from both sides of the pond in their sound, it results in the sort of music you’d expect to hear reverberating through a disused cathedral or the vault of some long-since-emptied bank which has been moved into by a group of indie squatters.  The ‘strangled bass’ noises heard on some of the tracks are also a welcome weapon, generally underused in the indie arsenal.

4 out of 5 high fives!

Mallory Knox – Cathouse, Glasgow, 23/4/13

Taken by Lisa Matthews

My preparation for this gig was less than adequate. I’d been up all night several nights beforehand frantically typing uni coursework and had completely forgotten that my cousin invited me to it, and had to drive 50 miles from Edinburgh to Glasgow running on energy juice to make it! But we made it in time, and commencing proceedings were Evarose (4/5), a four-piece all-female rock/pop outfit from Oxfordshire. Now I know the cliché with any band with a female member in it these days is to instantly compare them with Paramore, but these girls definitely have a similar vibe. Punchy, anthemic pop-punk is the score, and they don’t hold back at all on stage – at one point bassist Connie Raitt was so into it that she nearly clobbered singer Danikka Webber in the face. A special mention as well for the steely-eyed determination not to acknowledge the drunken heckle from a punter at the back of the room which had something to do with an ‘embarrassing boner’ – make of that what you will, but I wouldn’t mess with this quartet. BASS TO THE FACE OOOOOH – keep an eye oot.

Next up, Natives (3/5), whose set positively flew by. Four lads from Hampshire who clearly eat their porridge each morning dealt out a further foray into pop-punk but seemed to focus more on crowd participation – in a 35 minute set they only managed to fit in 4 songs, though this may have been somewhat due to the dance-off which broke out halfway through where anyone with moves slick enough to impress lead singer Jim Thomas cab win a photograph of the crowd doing the band’s apparent signature symbol ‘The Point’. A decent set but nothing terribly exciting.

Natives certainly got the crowd whipped into a frenzy for Mallory Knox (4/5) whose gig this is after all. Currently promoting full-length release Signals and buzzing from being announced as one of the main stage acts for Reading and Leeds this year, the quintet makes the tiny Cathouse stage seem more crowded than the room they’re playing to. This audience is as captivated by the bands newer, more radio-oriented tunes as by their older stuff; the room positively erupts at the mere mention of mellow ballad ‘1949’ from Signals, proving this is a group who can do heavy, moshable pop-punk alongside less pacey works, all the while pushing their audience’s buttons. A cracking display, and many happy returns to guitarist Joe Savins who celebrated his birthday onstage!