Labels: Drunken Sailor – Solidarity Recordings
Review by: MH
There are 4 songs on this split 7″. They have released it on limited runs of purple and light purple vinyl. The copy I have here is light purple. On side A you have Noise By Numbers who can count members of Screeching Weasel and The Bomb amongst their numbers. Unsurprisingly, melodic pop punk is their thing and they open with ‘Southgate House’ which I’m pretty sure is an ode to the former England international and Middlesbrough manager’s new home. The early signs are good with a big drumbeat starting things off – the guitars sound great early on too. It’s mildly catchy but I would have preferred some lyrics in the chorus rather than the ‘doo-doo-doo’-ing which detracts from the rest of the song for me. ‘Lost Luggage’ is quite bouncy but somewhat repetitive in the chorus too. I’m finding their side of the record a bit hit-and-miss – the verses are good but for me they are let down by the unimaginative choruses – the end result being that I don’t like either song at all. The Magnificent up the ante on the B side with their 2 tracks. This band continues to impress me. Straightforward punk rock with Yorkshire accents in the vocals. I like the way they have captured the band’s energy on both tracks here. This comes across particularly in the bolshy ‘Don’t Send Me Flowers’. Good stuff again from The Magnificent.