So Eat Defeat are a band that I may not have played with yet but hail from Leeds, which as far as I can tell is knocking out some of the best UK bands around right now. They've arisen from the ashes of skacore to become a power pop skate punk quartet that are doing pretty well for themselves, having toured mainland Europe and all over the UK. In fact if you like what you hear after this review why not check them out in an upcoming February tour.
Anyways onward to the actual EP:
This thing sounds chunky like you'd expect a Punk-Pop record to, the level of professionalism here is about what I'd expect from a band who have a few releases and members from bands like Fighting Fiction. They clearly have some stripes they've earned and this is the fruit of their wisdom. The hooks here on display will let you know instantly if it's your cup of tea and it certainly is mine!! The cover is a very quick indication that if you like your music exclusively dark and brooding then you're looking in the wrong place here
"Thundergun Express" is the kicker on this EP and it's a good one, I purposefully haven't listened to the previous material yet so I don't become biased but I can only hope its as cool and powerful as this. I don't recognise the quote at the beginning of the track but by virtue of the fact that it's there I feel at home. I may have mentioned that I was a giant Midtown fan back in the early 2000s and this gives me great memories of those guys.
"Luck is for Losers" is next along and this has a pretty special treat on it. In what I assume is a nod to their origins as a skacore band they have guest vocals from none other than Barney Boom. The breakdown in the bridge is setup in the previous song as an Eat Defeat trope and helps to make the drop in tempo style not feel too jarring, the guest verse is cool and will make Sonic Boom Six fans need this in their collection. The chorus for this tune is just superb and the strongest of the three tracks. It's a real pop punk anthem without the need for too much polish or bravado, just like great pop punk should be.
"Survival Mode" rounds out the EP and the intro feels like it could go in many a direction, being a little technical and feeling like it could be used to introduce something heavy or maybe just a throwaway beginning into more pop punk. Instead the guys choose the absolute best path (in my humble opinion) and kick the pace up to a thousand miles per hour. If there's one thing I love more than great harmonies and catchy choruses over a pop punk beat its the same over double time skate punk drumming!! Being addicted to the double makes this a definite favourite for me and an extremely strong finisher both in terms of wanting to finish with a bang and for this being something that can hold it's own against other established powerhouses in the skatepunk/melodic hardcore scene.
All in all really great set of songs that I've been listening to a hell of a lot since I was pointed in their direction. It's a crying shame that I haven't played with these guys personally and I'll be looking to remedy that soon. If you think the glory days of pop punk happened before a certain band released a certain shite self titled album then you will thoroughly enjoy this. In fact if you are a fan of music in general and you want to check out a well thought out fun set of songs then this is the place you need to be.
https://eatdefeat.bandcamp.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment