Review by: Ian Cavell
Rich Speedowax and his army of multicoloured vinyl marches on. This nice looking 7″ is a kind of swirly marble grey colour and looks just gorgeous. And a bit of a departure for Speedowax these two bands DON’T play pop-punk (not that I’ve got anything against pop-punk mind).
Sunfactor should be fairly well known to most people by now but if you’re still in the dark then this 7″ would be a great place to start. For starters, it includes ‘Smalltown’ which, as all the cool kids know, is the best Sunfactor song. Great upbeat emo-rock with lovely driving guitars : an all round great song in fact. You also get the more laid back (and also great) Sal Paradise. Both these songs are off the Re:regarding EP. However, there is one new track called ‘Glad to see you’re not Dead’ which I’m a little undecided about. It reminds me, in part, of Mineral which is a bad thing (for me at least). But for other people I guess thats already got you reaching for the cheque book. Not a bad song but then not a patch on the other two either.
Inside Right. These three tracks are the first I’ve heard by this highly touted UK band. ‘College Rock’, ‘Porcelain Elvis’ and ‘Four Fingered BMX rider’ are all really good songs although the lyrics to ‘College Rock’ did puzzle me slightly. I’m trying to decide if there’s some really clever message hidden in there or if its just plain gibberish (“I need some Johnny Cash, I need some Cabbage Patch” – eh?). Maybe I’ll find out one day. Anyway, musically, there is a definite indie feel to these two songs but mixed with say a bit of the roughness that a band like the Autumn Year possess (and I really apologise to overseas readers for the obscurity of that reference but thats all I can think of).
To sum up : both Sunfactor and Inside Right are part of a growing number of UK bands that are doing the whole emo thing really, really well. I whole heartily recommend this release to just about anyone.