Labels: self released
Review by: Tom Sloan
If there’s one thing that immediately emerges from this demo, it is that M-80 sure know how to create that very British styled atmosphere of melancholy in their music. I don’t know how long they have been playing together, but they sound a band that has been together for years “” perfectly honed and balanced, lovely strings, nice female backing vocals and a good singer. Think Ashcroft, Coldplay, turin breaks et al”¦they really do cut the mustard in all senses, – except for the songs themselves unfortunately. After the pleasant prelude of the first track, ‘chasing shadows’ it sounds commendably polished without ever really getting off the ground in terms of a decent melody in the verse or then, any kind of elevated chorus part. Track 3 “a sad song’ suffers a similar problem.
I don’t like criticising this band, because they sound pretty professional in what they are doing”¦I just don’t think the song writing’s anywhere near strong enough to stand out at the moment. Then again, it’s not as if this type of music is unpopular at the moment, so they probably have less chance of going unnoticed by the mainstream than first expected.