Labels: Polyvinyl
Review by: Andy Malcolm
This 7″ comes in some lovely chunky cardboard packing, a long with a piece of paper with some extremely tough to read lyrics on it. Perhaps next time they will use a biro to write with, rather than what appears to have been a twig that was stuck in a pot of paint. Or something.
And its as good as hoped. Their song that backed up the Get Up Kids on a split single that I picked up last week was the catalyst behind buying this. Main track, “First Day Back”, is more of the same perfectly put together indie rock with a tasty pop tune. And yes, it is emo. However did you guess? Ah, you read my name at the top of the review. Kind of gives it away really. The song is also liberally sprinkled with this really neat plonky keyboard part that sounds rather cool. And they’ve also done a good job of mixing things up a bit – theres a lot going on for just one song, but it just about hangs together.
Not so sure on the song its backed with, “Hugs From Boys”, mind. Its infinitely messier, and harder to get a handle on. Its slower in the main and more downbeat than the A-side, and would probably sound better in the context of an album rather than on a single.
So, all rather erratic and slightly out of the ordinary. Worthy of a listen if you want to hear how indie rock can be done if the band has some imagination.