They say that a picture paints a thousand words, well words themselves are actually pretty good at painting pictures, so it works both ways. What then, would you expect a band called Very Americans to sound like? It could be a trick question, but as far as this Pennsylvanian band go, they've politely introduced a hammer to the nail's head. We featured this group's debut single back in 2012, and we learned that they've all spent time in previous bands, prominently of the punk/emo/indie-rock variety; all of which are genres that can be very good, but equally they can be quite dire. Without having heard their past music, we're judging these six men on the songs they've made since uniting in their current form. True to form, you can pick just about any form of American rock music and find traces of it lurking in the tracks of this EP. Luckily none of it is cheesy punk or geeky emo; they're a little more refined than that.
The fade-in to 'Floodgates' has a slightly emo twang to it, but if we hadn't had that genre in our minds then it probably wouldn't be noticeable. Really it's a classic US alt-rock sound that will draw comparisons to other blue-collar rock types. You get the sense of brotherly camaraderie here too, especially in the "whoa-oh-ohs". Indie is a vast umbrella, but 'Without A Trace' could be described as indie-rock, however it's not the home-made variety we hear so much of; Very Americans want these songs to burn as brightly as possible, and so they make sure that the power and emotion comes through. Slowing the place slightly is the chugging 'Not That Serious' which seems to exist at the point where Bruce Springsteen and The Killers converge. It's a highlight and gives us a good strong chorus. There's very little to choose between these four songs, so if you like one then you'll almost certainly like the lot. The consistency is impressive, and throwing in what could almost be described as power chords on 'Fast Planes To Rio' actually improves the song, perhaps making it the best of all. Really though, if this type of thing is your bag, you've probably stuck gold.
Very Americans' website
Pre-order the EP
For more news, reviews and downloads follow The Sound Of Confusion on Facebook or Twitter
contact@thesoundofconfusion.com
No comments:
Post a Comment