Labels: ADD
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Ah, marvellous. 6 more Watson songs. You may have missed their eminently listenable debut from last year on ADD. You fool! This latest EP follows on from that one in fine style, although perhaps it isn’t quite as instantly addictive or consistent. In fact, if you are interested in this band I would suggest you pick up Killing Momentum prior to this.
Conceiver breaks things in, and the first time I played it I was convinced I was listening to a Fay Wray song. The vocals are muchly similar. Of course, the singer in Watson is actually from Clairmel, a band who were from a particular No Idea Records era that I miss muchly, an era they share with Fay Wray. Two bands that belted out melodic hardcore / punk, that took influence from bands such as Superchunk and Archers of Loaf. Watson maintain that key element in their music, an uncommonly good mix of belting, melodic punk with incisive indie rock guitar work. It’s the kind of combination that interests few, but tends to get me very excited. I am not sure why it lacks a broad appeal, personally I will always get worked up over bands that display this much energy and tune in one place at one time. If you too get a little frantic at the sound of some dude singing in a slightly strained and weird fashion over sloppy, galloping, guitars (part Leatherface, part Archers of Loaf), then you too will be a big fan of Watson. I fear, sadly, that there is only about 16 of us.