Robyn Writes

Review: The Here And Now – Born To Make Believe Part 1 [EP]

It’s refreshing and perception altering when a musicians reveal a different side to both themselves and their music, and that is exactly what we have got in the shape of The Here And Now’s debut Born to Make Believe Part 1. Alan Day, whose name you might recognise from his exploits within pop-punk outfit Four Year Strong, must have been building up a body of work for some time while believing that it never quite fit with the FYS sound. Day’s spare-time has seemingly been devoted to crafting a brand new entity, which has slowly found its own identity as the Here and Now. With influences spanning from Neil Young and The Beatles to bands like The Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana; Day creates a whirlwind of rock transcending several generations.

The opening (and title) track kicks into life with a guitar intro smoothed over Day’s crooning. Its shifting tempo and sound sets the tone for the whole EP, covering a wide range of rock and roll eras, but doing so with an original modern twist. Third track “Broken By You” holds a line which is more folk, with a sound showing a clear Neil Young influence, while the rocking track “Numb Again” hits home with a sound reminiscent of the Foos. Day manages to mix together 90’s grunge with folk rock and does so without butchering or rubbishing either. It is far from what FYS fans are accustomed to, but it demonstrates the diversity of an underappreciated musician. What this first EP shows is that Day is clearly a fantastic songsmith; the tracks that make up the EP show that he knows how to make melody central and that he is not afraid of variation, not just across the EP but across a single song. The music can go from a calm folk rock sea to a spontaneous storm of rock’n’roll. Heavy rock riffs spur to life in an instant, before calmly falling back towards the soothing sounds, as if there was no interruption to them at all.

The best part of the EP is that it is supposedly only the first instalment of three, each to be five songs long. It is to be released through Bandcamp as a name-your-price download because, Day said: “the idea is just to be able to let people get the music when they want it, and not ignore it because they don’t want to pay the $5 to buy a record”. A good way for new projects to battle against the spree of illegal downloads. Since you can get your digital hands on a copy of the EP for whatever price you see fit, you really have no excuse for not checking this gem out!

4 out of 5 high fives!

Review: Ivy League (TX) – Transparency

Transparency is the big contender for sure-fire underground punk rock hit of the year.  It comes armed to the teeth with pit-inducing riffs and a cross-over appeal that bridges the nasal tones of pop-punk and the focused aggression of hardcore.  The Boston-based punk trio of Ivy League have successfully melded together everyone’s favourite bits of two of punk’s most contemporarily popular sub-genres into one wholly unoriginal yet still enticingly visceral little gem of an album.  Crammed into its brief running time are eleven blistering punk exultations, each song a flurry of energy perfect for stage-dives with enough melody bleeding through the propulsive punk for some serious sing-along potential.

 

Gone are the band’s previous ramshackle tendencies accentuated by an endearingly rough-hewn production.  Now, bolstered by a fuller sound and pop-punk sheen courtesy of contemporary pop-punk’s go-to producer Paul Miner, Transparency showcases Ivy League as a ‘proper’ and fully rounded prospect.

 

Comparisons to acts such as The Story So Far as well as a host of American punk acts (Title Fight etc.) are inevitable, with Ivy League joining a swelling scene of sound-a-likes, each possessing a particular fondness for laying their emotional grievances on the table over fast-as-fuck tempos.  There’s little on Transparency to mark Ivy League as a fully unique act amongst a vast diaspora of bands who proliferate minute nuances on the same basic idea, yet the conviction instantly tangible in the vocalist’s quasi-melodic bite coupled with the sheer unadulterated energy that oozes from every pore of the record, marks it as one of the finest executions of the style in question.  The guitar lines such as that which make up the joyous instrumental nugget ‘Egress’ are daftly catchy whilst the intense power chord crunch that makes up the base of most tracks has enough volatility to garner the appeal of the pickiest of hardcore kids.  ‘All My Skeletons’ features a melodramatic yet interesting closing passage- hushed backing vocals offering a rare break from the group’s potent charging energy in.  What’s more, to top it all off, the lyrics are jostling to become the Tumblr fodder of many an awkward teen.

 

Ivy League have done nothing to advance the ageing sub-genre of pop-punk, they simply enact the tender lyric/hostile instrumentation juxtaposition with more finesse and intensity than most.  Despite Transparency being a thoroughly enjoyable listen, the three plucky lads will have to dig deep in future and discover musical pathways yet to be explored otherwise they are destined to remain as a second-tier act.

4 out of 5 high fives!

Shout out: Will Tun and the Wasters need your help for their next split!

Our friends in Will Tun and the Wasters are putting together a new split EP with MC Amalgam, having worked with him on their last EP ‘Time Is A Bastard’. We absolutely bloody loved it – it’s an absolutely brilliant record, and the track with MC Amalgam was definitely the highlight. There it is, up above! But they need the funds to put it together and they’ve got a Pledgemusic running at the moment. Please go and add your pledge for the EP – you won’t regret it!

GO HERE AND PLEDGE!

Review: Singles roundup – 30/6/13

Single of the month – Counting Coins – Blue On Blue (5/5)
Stupidly upbeat ska with a political angle. Don’t let that put you off – instead stand up, take notice and get down to some hip-hop influenced rhythms and brilliant brass. And try and keep up with Harry Burnby’s vocals if you can. Featuring Robin Leitch (Random Hand) and Pat Pretorius (The Talks), it’s a melting pot of some of the best ska coming out of the UK at the moment. Genuinely exciting stuff.

Blitz Kids – Run For Cover (4/5)
K! darlings Blitz Kids have come forward with another banger. An absolutely massive tune with a classic rock and roll riff underlying the whole thing and a whopper of a chorus, this is going to be dominating the airwaves if it isn’t already. Plenty of fun, and the strings are a positively inspired decision.

PaperPlane – Chariot (4.5/5)
Chariot is an interesting slice of post-hardcore with folk punk influences threaded throughout. Jack Bennett’s vocals are incredible – somewhere between a rasp, a growl and a drunken sailor and that still doesn’t cover it. There’s a lot more to love here too, as PaperPlane intersperse beautiful, atmospheric verses with crushing guitar lines and some great synth work. One to watch.

Giants – It’s Not All Bad News (4/5)
Fast and furious punk rabble with a different slant from Giants here. It starts off like your typical hardcore punk fare, but dives into a seriously melodic chorus and rounds it off with a skate punk style breakdown in the middle. It’s a little disorientating at first, but the gang vocals bring it all together to create an interesting look at media misrepresentation. Nice one, lads.

In Dynamics – Liposuction (3.5/5)
Liposuction is a great rock track. The chorus has the potential to be the biggest chorus of the summer, but the hip-hop influenced vocals in the verses just doesn’t work as well in contrast. Nevertheless, In Dynamics build up an incredible atmosphere, particularly in the instrumental bits towards the end, and it’s the sort of thing that hopefully will be rocking the festivals this time next year.

The New Lows – Missive (4/5)
The first new song to be released from The New Lows since I Couldn’t Sleep, Missive has built on the band’s penchant for witty lyricism and catchy hooks and provides a bold statement of intent with some crashing guitar filled with punk rock fire. Short and sweet but with a great deal to adore, it’s a slow jam like no other.

Review: Bankrupt – Goodbye Blue Monday

Now. We all love the punk formula, right. Songs no longer than 3 and a half minutes. Guitar. Bass. Drums. Keep it simple. Do what you want. Never, ever take it too seriously.

This neat little EP from Budapest’s Bankrupt – available free to download from their website if you like them on that facetube, or the price of a pint of Magners straight off bandcamp – sticks to the formula. And makes absolutely no pretensions of doing otherwise.

Opening on a Ramones-y kick, and rattling brightly along with heavy heavy nods to the Dwarves, the Buzzcocks and generally an original ’78/79 pop-punk type vibe… there’s little or nothing to dislike here.

The toothy vocals and simple as fuck three piece instrumental set up is easy to digest, the old school as you like influences are clear to see from three hundred miles away – but this is good natured, bounce along fare. Even when they wish you would just fuckin’ die (“Timewaster”) it’s not something you’d take to heart and find anything other than charming.

Don’t expect a hard core in this. But if you want the punk equivalent of a sherbert dip (anyone under the age of thirty – google is your friend here), then go on – like these hard working central European dudes on faceybook, or hit bandcamp and run a couple of quid through paypal. Nothing to lose. And a warm afterglow to gain.

3.5 out of 5 high fives!