Monday 28 September 2009

Review - Various - My Friend Eject - Digital Love EP/ No Hope Astronaut - Exits Fade EP

Various - My Friend Eject - Digital Love EP/ No Hope Astronaut - Exits Fade EP

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7 out of 10

My Friend Eject<./b> - Digital Love EP

It all started so well. OK not well but alright; combining Iron Maiden style riffs with the less punky elements of The Rise, unfortunately that is where it all goes downhill with the introduction of Chad Kroeger or that bloke from Creed opening their lungs and defecating some truly awful lyrics into that musical melting pot.

I can only assume that the "you" that Carlo Rinaldi (yes the culprit has been identified) warbles about in More Ice is himself because "Sometimes your wrong, you don't know nothing" is surely the musings of someone who don't done English proper. It is always impressively shambolic when the realisation creeps in that at no point in the creative process did someone take the perpetrator to one side and calmly inform them that what they are doing is just a bit shit.

The unfortunate thing in this scenario is that it leaves a sour taste in the ears which can only reflect on the band as a whole. Come one, come all is also true antithetically.

In attempting to deliberately combine the different elements of the bands that they love, they have managed to create something not quite as good as any of them (a remarkable task considering Enter Shikari appear on their list of influences). Surely they should have realised that any music they make would naturally take on aspects of any culture they have sponged up, without deliberately choosing to pick individual tools to chuck in their toy box.

Now I'll use my friend eject.

Score = 4/10 (My Friend Eject)

No Hope Astronaut - Exits Fade EP

NHA have forged a sound that definitely reeks of those Scots with a penchant for Cliff Richard biros, although this is certainly more There's No Such Thing as a Jagged Snake than Machines. Glassjaw main man Daryl Palumbo has quite distinctly had a smidgen of an effect on vocalist Joe Dowling, which is in no way a bad thing - in fact it adds a sense of urgency to the frankly fulsome sound of this three piece.

Rock Sound's claim of transformation "into true British emo pioneers" is something I do have to disagree with though, as it is a tag that has been bandied around far too much; I mean calling My Chemical Romance emo is like saying Pink Floyd invented reggae. The term emo should have this thick scummy growth brushed off it and be reserved for bands such as Pavement or Jimmy Eat World with whom it was first used describing their emotional rock. No Hope Astronaut's sound is more akin to that of Hell is for Heroes or Funeral for a Friend (post-hardcore or post-Refused for all you genre junkies).

Thankfully these London upstarts come as a breath of fresh air after the faintly smug, stale pong of the first three tracks from city and studio mates My Friend Eject

Score = 7/10 (No Hope Astronaut)

Listen: www.myspace.com/myfriendeject / http://www.myspace.com/nohopeastronaut

Tracklist:
1. Digital Love
2. More Ice
3. Army of One
4. Split The Sky
5. Harpoon Tragedy
6. Into The Fire

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