EP REVIEW: RAIN - 'SYMPHONY PAINS'

One thing that I always loved doing when Randon's Reviews was on Tumblr (don't judge) was recommending the works of some of my favourite music journalists, and I wanted to bring that back a bit today to introduce this review. I read an article online the other day by Ryan De Freitas, a wicked writer who I feel proud to be working alongside for Upset magazine, about how the 'emo revival' scene of late is now way past the point of being a revival, and how some bands from that scene (Modern Baseball, The World Is A Beautiful Place..., Into It. Over It., etc.) are starting to stand on their own merits. I'll leave the following quote below to give you a taster of the article, which you can and should read HERE:

"FOR MANY, THE MAIN COMPLAINT REGARDING THE 'REVIVAL' TAG WAS THAT IT SUGGESTED EPHEMERALITY; THAT THIS WAS MERELY ANOTHER FAD FOR CRITICS TO ROLL THEIR EYES AT. NOW AT THE START OF 2016, ( ... ) THOSE COMPLAINTS ARE PROVING MORE VALID THAN EVER. BECAUSE IT WASN'T A FAD. IT WAS THE RESULT OF HARDWORKING BANDS THAT SHARED INFLUENCES FINDING BOTH EACH OTHER AND A FANBASE."

To a degree, I feel like the same sentiments can also be applied to the 'grunge revival' that's been making waves lately, but in this case it's so important to distinguish the lackadaisical from the lethargic. The sounds and ideals of grunge needs to be revisited with a bit more craft and inventiveness than just plugging your Fender Jaguar into a bunch of distortion and modulation pedals (NB: I'm not a guitar geek). I'll quote another great journalist, Rock Sound's Gav Lloyd in his review of Milk Teeth's Vile Child, to accentuate my point: "WEARING A CARDIGAN DOES NOT MAKE YOU KURT COBAIN." *

* I'm paraphrasing here because I can't find my copy of the review, but that quote really stuck with me so I think I got it right. Sorry to Gav if I misquoted him (please don't sue).

RAIN are a shining example of a new British band that are bringing those nostalgic vibes of 90's alt-rock back to the fore, but also join bands like Title Fight and Hindsights in taking it to stratospheric new levels. Put simply, their debut EP, SYMPHONY PAINS, is bedroom-demo shoegaze being played on an arena-rock scale-- Actually, I'm not even sure if it's on the fucking scale. It sounds MASSIVE.

While you may think that the sort of sounds being dealt out by bands of this ilk belongs in dive bars and house shows, Rain have harnessed the all-conquering ethos of 90s britpop to take their melodies to a sonically higher place. All you need to do is listen to the first 7 seconds of opening track 'Slur', and you will realise that this is more than just simple chords and psychedelic guitar tones. In fact, let me try and give you an exact recap of the first time I listened to 'Slur':

00.00.01: "OKAY, SOME PRETTY RETRO VIBES COMING OFF OF THIS, NOT BAD, I LIKE THAT GUITAR TONE, ETC."

00.00.06: "WHAT THE FUCK?! HOLY SHIT, THIS IS HUGE! WHAT IS ACTUALLY GOING ON RIGHT NOW? IS THIS HEAVEN?"

Maybe I exaggerated on that bit about heaven, but you catch my drift, and that's just the first 7 seconds of the song. You just wait until you hear the other 5 minutes and 36 seconds .of it: there's choruses which you would struggle to describe as anything other than 'cataclysmic', and ethereal vocal harmonies in the verses to keep you mellow and safe from a full-on emo breakdown.

The fact that there's plenty of moments that evoke the same emotional response as 'Slur''s explosive opening is testament to how good Symphony Pains is. 'Slur' is undeniably the 'big hitter' that rings with eye-watering clarity, but over the course of the EP's 15 minutes, you are met with euphoric, luscious melodies as they spiral upward towards warm, washed-out hooks and shit-kicking drums, all the way through to 'Dandelion''s devastating conclusion.

It would take some bands a whole album to sound as epic as Rain do in just three tracks. The fact that the band have already paid another visit to the recording studio between the recording and release of Symphony Pains means that it's an extremely promising start for Rain, as they join the growing list of bands breaking through the cursed mould of the revivalist scene.

TOP TRACKS: 'SLUR'; 'INDIGO IN BLUE'

RR RATING:

SYMPHONY PAINS IS OUT NOW ON CLOSE TO HOME RECORDS. STREAM THE EP ON SPOTIFY BELOW:

P.S. I know I ended up incoherently dribbling about this EP at certain points in its review, and I'm not apologetic of that at all because that's how I wanted my style on this blog to be in the first place, but if you want to read some of my proper writing, you can grab the next issue of Upset magazine from Friday (March 4th), which features my review of Neck Deep's recent show in London. I think I only incoherently dribbled about Creeper in that review, because why wouldn't I?

P.P.S. Thanks to everyone who helped me hit 1000 page views on this blog over the last two months. I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but consider how shitty Blogger's SEO is, it's the ultimate pay-off and it means the fucking world to me.

Until next time, peace out. That's a 90s thing to say, right?

Danny

PVRIS - THE 'WHITE NOISE' VIDEOS, RANKED 'WORST' TO BEST

As of last weekend, PVRIS (not pronounced 'Pvvvris') have released a music video for every single track from their debut album, White Noise. If you haven't heard White Noise yet, let me try and nutshell how amazing it is: it's got this glossy but elusive synth-pop vibe to it in the same way that bands like CHVRCHES (again, not pronounced 'Chvvvrches') do, but then there's also a snap of mainstream rock catchiness. When I drew up my list of top albums for 2014, White Noise came in at #24. If I was to re-rank those albums, it would comfortable be within the top five for that year.

What's really piqued my interest about this series of videos is the fact that White Noise came out nearly a year and a half ago, and yet PVRIS haven't done what most bands would do on the cycle of an album. They haven't just made three of four videos before fucking off for a few months before the next album. PVRIS have kept people's attention right up until they're about to release new music, and I really respect that. As the YouTube kids appear to say, I'm "such fucking trash" for the White Noise vids.

As much as it is 'all about the music', music videos are a really great way to channel a visual concept, which for bands like PVRIS, has become a major factor in a band's appeal, especially for someone like me who is an absolute sucker for the performance element of music. I haven't really spoken much about music videos on this incarnation of Randon's Reviews, and even though my knowledge of film studies is no better than the next person, I felt inspired to rank the White Noise videos from the 'worst' (a word I use very loosely) to the best...

EDITOR'S NOTE: I actually wrote this blog a few hours before PVRIS dropped their new single, 'You And I', and I had planned for this post to precede the release but it dropped sooner than I thought. But hey, I've done it now, and let's not forget how awesome these videos are.

#9: 'St. Patrick'

This might seem a controversial choice for last place considering the fact that this is arguably PVRIS' biggest single to date (as well as the first video released), but I must stress how loosely I use the term 'worst': PVRIS have not released a bad video. While they do make an effort to introduce their image and concept with the 'St. Patrick' video, it's something which has definitely become more explicit with each video.

#8: 'My House'

This is the second and final case of PVRIS ironing out the creases in their performance on camera: when I look back at these earlier music videos, it feels like the band initially struggled with figuring out how to present themselves on camera, but they're still very visually pleasing. After the video for 'My House' (which was followed by 'White Noise'), PVRIS really started to nail that visual element.

#7: 'Eyelids'

This is actually my least favourite song from White Noise, but that's a bit like saying it's my least favourite chocolate from a box of Celebrations (yep, I even like Bounty). Seeing as this is one of the last videos to be released, its use of lighter colours and stripped-back visuals throws a pretty interesting contrast to the other videos, and that kind of reflects the role that 'Eyelids' plays on the album too.

#6: 'Smoke'

Even though there was a six-month wait between the video for 'Fire' and the video for 'Smoke' (*insert something awful like 'No fire without smoke' here*), this set the precedent for the week following its release, where PVRIS essentially bombarded us with video after video after video. It's fast in pace, but the band still maintain their elusiveness by looking the shit in silhouette form. 

MVP for this one however goes to Jarrod "I like your khaki shorts" Alonge, who left this absolute stonker of a comment on the video:

#5: 'Fire'

Take cover, Lynn Gunn has dropped a fucking sass bomb! When I first heard 'Fire', I remember instantly feeling the attitude and knowing from that point that PVRIS were actually going to be a pretty big deal. That's also how I felt when I watched the video for the first time; it's a real step-up in terms of confronting those mainstream pressures and expectations head-on. I don't know what else to talk about other than how kickass and fierce the performance is in this video. And that's 'very'. Yeah, I'm done.

#4: 'Ghosts' / 'Let Them In'

Well, this one took everyone by surprise. Combining two tracks in one video is strange, and you may think that they're cutting corners, but it's actually more impressive considering how minimal the video is. How they can take a series of time lapses and motion blurs, add a load of lens flares, stretch that out over nearly 7 minutes and make it one of their most captivating music videos is beyond me, but I'm just glad that they did it right, and that my laptop wasn't broken (honestly, I had to watch it a second time on my phone to be sure that was how it was meant to look).

#3: 'Holy'

I think this might be the first time that PVRIS indulge the darker side of their music on camera, and there couldn't be a better or more beautiful song on the album to do it to. The grainy, VCR effect also seems to impact on a number of the videos that follow, and it's surprising how eerie it makes everything look. Visually, I put it in the same bracket as 'Ghosts' / 'Let Them In' in the way that they've taken a limited amount of footage, and manipulate it so that your attention never wanes.

#2: 'White Noise'

While Lynn is an incredible vocalist and performer, it's worth mentioning that Alex Babinski and Brian MacDonald do way more in PVRIS' videos than stand at the side and look a bit surly. The internet may have melted over the fact that you briefly see Lynn in her underwear in the 'White Noise' video, but I feel like Alex and Brian really hold their own here and hit the narrative home. On top of that, there's wicked little nods to paranormal horror movies, and the editing and visual effects really start to break through here. Also, that chorus. Shit me.

#1: 'Mirrors'

SDJCASDEOJUSEDIUSH… Now, I just typed that scramble of random letters in when I was docking around with embedding YouTube videos into the post, but I actually decided to leave it in there, because it's probably quite an accurate representation of the noise I think I made when I first saw the final video in the White Noise saga.

PVRIS really did save the best for last with 'Mirrors'. It's visually stunning, the imagery and editing as at its absolute best, the performance is awesome - it basically takes everything that's been great about these videos and shoots it into the fucking sky. 'White Noise' may have had those Poltergeist nuances but this is actually scary, like the early Marilyn Manson videos, another example of where visual editing comes into really magnificent play. It's just the best way to end PVRIS' epic first chapter.

Obviously I keep saying 'PVRIS do this' and 'PVRIS do that', but MASSIVE credit is due to Raul Gonzo, who directed all of the White Noise videos. In the age of vine compilations, Twitter and the destruction of everyone's attention spans, it is amazing how Gonzo can take a single concept, however minute, or shoot an interestingly limited variety of footage, and manipulate it to keep people captivated for longer than three minutes. I've been guilty of having the attention span of a brain-damaged goldfish, but the White Noise videos have had me glued to the very last second, and often going back several times (I think I watched 'Mirrors' three times over when it dropped).

As ever, I'd be stoked to hear your opinion. I've been really rather lovely to you and set up a YouTube playlist of the White Noise videos in the order that they were released. Check them out below, and hit me up with your thoughts in the comments section, on the RR Facebook page, or on Twitter... Unless your thoughts are just 'OMG, Lynn Gunn is in her pants!'. I know. Chill out.

Danny

EP REVIEW: CREEPER - 'THE STRANGER'

A lot of you saw probably saw this review coming, seeing as I think I've done pretty well in not spaffing all over this blog about how much I fucking love Creeper. Not only have they written some of the best punk rock songs of our generation, but they are on the cusp of something explosive, stratospheric even.

I get the same vibe from Creeper as I did when My Chemical Romance breached the mainstream with Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge: it feels more accessible musically than a lot of the music of the scene that they stemmed from, but at the same time they still stood proud on behalf of the freaks and outsiders, uncompromising and otherworldly. MCR may have become more of a corporate machine in their later days, but in that moment, between Three Cheers... and The Black Parade, it was a bold and brilliant time for 'alternative' music. With Creeper, I feel that excitement again as the cult-like fanbase around them continues to grow. With the Callous Heart patch proudly sewn onto my denim jacket, I have undoubtedly succumbed to the Creeper Cult. 

What initially seemed to be a bunch of punk misfits with a dark delight for the macabre is now a troupe of punk craftsmen (and craftswoman) with a dark delight for the macabre. Everything from the iconography to the two-part fairytale that concludes with The Stranger has been created meticulously, but never in a contrived manner, especially not on this, their most personal release to date.

Their last EP, The Callous Heart, set an alluring precedent that saw bigger, more mainstream audiences flocking to see them on support slots and in small club gigs: it was fast, it was fun, but above all, it was profound. The Stranger's role in Creeper's grandiose production, as frontman Will Gould explains in a recent behind-the-scenes vid, is to embody "time and the things we fear". It's with that concept in mind that I think this EP represents Creeper going 'right, we can write great punk rock choruses, but what else can we blow people's minds with?', and out came this fucking massive-sounding rock record.

On first listen, the sheer craft, pace and majesty of The Stranger is startling and almost seems like a bit of a curveball, and perhaps that would be the case if it was a stand-alone release. However, when it's lined up in succession to The Callous Heart, it's a natural element of Creeper's sound and this is the glorious moment where it comes to fruition. Do yourself a favour and listening to both records back-to-back; that's where you will learn to truly appreciate the craft of this record. 

They still have those fist-in-the-air anthems like 'Black Mass', which throws around influences from Alkaline Trio to Elvis like it's nobody's business, and is probably one of the best songs that Creeper will ever write. But then there's also songs like the opening track, 'The Secret Society': a swelling build-up into a somewhat Bat Out Of Hell-esque eruption with all the pomp of a rock opera, before giving way to 'Valentine''s uncannily Three Cheers...-era verses and huge swaying choruses.

With 'Novena' and 'Henley's Ghost' now , one thing that often gets overlooked with Creeper is their ability to write heart-wrenching balladry. 'Misery' is hardly the token ballad in this EP of frank admissions and cathartic lyricism, but it will have fans singing "Misery never goes out of style" in their arena-sized masses, and you can take that to the bank: Creeper will one day be playing arenas, and it's thanks to songs like 'Misery'.

Now, to any punk rock purists out there: you can calm their tits if you think that this is the sound of Creeper selling out so early in the game. They are not slowing down, they are not taming. They are just sonically expanding to justify those grand concepts and narratives - not that they had anything to prove in the first place. The songs were always there, as was the concept, but finally it feels like they are mutually thriving off of one another.

Around the release of their debut EP, I would have classed Creeper as 'promising'. With The Callous Heart, they became exciting. Now, at the end of this wonderful saga, Creeper are important, and as they look ahead to the next chronicle that they have beautifully set the stage for, it feels like their most enchanting moment is yet to come.

TOP TRACKS: 'Black Mass'; 'Misery'; 'The Secret Society'

 RR RATING:

The Stranger is out February 19th on Roadrunner Records. Click here to stream the EP before its release via the band's website.

Beware the Callous Heart...

Danny

LATE TO THE PARTY: DESCENDENTS - 'MILO GOES TO COLLEGE'

LATE TO THE PARTY is a new feature on Randon's Reviews that I'd been mulling over in my head for a little while now. In a nutshell, it involves me giving my thoughts on 'classic' albums that, up until recently, I had never heard. That's about it really.

I don't see admitting that I had never listened to the records that will eventually feature on here as a loss of integrity - I'm only a young music journalist, every day is a learning curve, and even though I do call myself a 'music journalist', that does not mean I have listened to every piece of recorded music ever. I don't even think that's even humanly possible, so yeah, lower your expectations, chumps.

I'm always up for recommendations (in this instance, I've left a list of three albums for you to choose from for the next edition at the bottom of this post), so hit me up on the RR Facebook page or on Twitter if you have a suggestion and I'll definitely consider it - unless I have actually heard it before.

In the meantime, let's get stuck in to the first record, which some of you may know as one of the most influential punk records of all time: Descendents' MILO GOES TO COLLEGE...

All that I had to go off of before diving into Milo Goes To College was Descendents' iconic mascot, photos of the band, and an understanding that this album is often regarded as one of the earliest pop-punk albums. What I was met with as soon as I hit 'Play' could not be further from my expectations. When you look at the band physically, you can't help but think that they'll have vibes of early college rock (or similar veins of alt-rock) about their sound. How wrong I was...

This is a fucking fast album. To put it into perspective, I thought it would make good listening for my commute home from college, but I was barely out of the college gates by the time the first three tracks were wrapped up. By the time I walked from campus to the train station, the album was done. I barely had time to think. It's relentless, it's raucous, and it sounds like (*cue done-to-death 'barfight' cliché*) Fugazi and The Germs having a nasty little scrap.

If you think that Milo Goes To College is just a bunch of snotty Californian kids shouting 1 2 3 4! and going apeshit for a minute and a half, before repeating said formula 14 times over, you wouldn't be miles off the money, even I thought that on my first listen. This is young, dumb, full-of-cum, stagedive-your-fucking-legs-off hardcore punk, and while Descendents are clearly not as politically antagonistic as bands like Black Flag or Dead Kennedys, Milo Goes To College are far from a stupid, gratuitously thrashy punk record.

If you're not entirely convinced by the above statement, do yourself a favour and listen to the intro to 'Tonyage': those frantic time signatures and that guitar sound is like something that I would perhaps liken to some of Biffy Clyro's artier material. Then there's the bassist, Tony Lombardo, and his work throughout the record. Forgive me, I'm no bassist, but this isn't just the same three chords over and over again: it is complex and, dare I say it, funky, and when you put it with the sheer batshit intensity of Bill Steven's drumming, you have quite simply some of the best rhythm work that I have ever heard in punk rock (sorry, Dad).

Still not convinced? The band's frontman, Milo Aukerman, has a job as a plant researcher and has a fucking doctorate in biochemistry. BOOM.

As for Milo Goes To College's status as a precursor to the wonderful thing that is pop-punk, I must admit that I could not hear a shred of poppy sensibility on first listen. I was probably too busy comprehending how fast and frank it was. The more I listened to it, however, the more I detected that razor-sharp attention to melody, especially on tracks like 'Suburban Home', which sounds like the missing link between the Ramones and Green Day. That said, Descendents still maintain that brash, hardcore edge throughout, as well as encapsulating a radical sense of suburban teenage anxiety and frustration, something which reaches a psychotic boiling point on 'Parents' ("WHY WON'T THEY SHUT UPPP?!").

I've seen the last couple of years as a real 'journey of punk rock discovery', for lack of a less twatty phrase, and even after coming across bands like Fugazi and Black Flag for the first time, I don't know why Milo Goes To College, or Descendents as a whole, has passed me by. The songs (with perhaps the exception of 'Suburban Home') haven't quite stuck in my head the way that Rancid, the Ramones and The Wildhearts did when my Dad me those records as a kid, and Descendents haven't yet resonated with me like letlive., Gallows and The King Blues did when they first bombarded into my life, but that's not to say that it's a fucking awesome punk rock record that I ended up listening to three times in a row.

If you also haven't heard Milo Goes To College (or just want to listen to it again), stream the album via Spotify below:

... And now to tackle the issue of what album will pop my aural cherry next, as it were. Below are three records which I have never heard, and I want you to choose one of them. Comment below, hit me up on Facebook, or Tweet me. Be nice or go away:

Up the punx.

Danny

MUSKETS HAVE HAD A LOAD OF GEAR NICKED BY SOME SCUMBAGS

Muskets are one of my favourite things about the UK's underground punk-cum-emo-cum-grunge scene thing right now (there are many, many things that I like about it, but Muskets are right up there), but last night I received the news that sends dread not only into the band's hearts, but also into the hearts of those who only want the best for them.

The boys had their van broken into in Brighton yesterday, and an extensive amount of their gear (check out the Facebook post below for the full list) has subsequently been stolen. This is bad enough news for a band with endorsements up the wazoo, but for a band who have played shows relentlessly and worked hard for their keep? This really fucking sucks.

Hey mates, there's no easy way for us to put this - We found out tonight that our van was broken into and a whole load...
Posted by Muskets on Monday, 8 February 2016

We could get into a whole other conversation about how it could've been prevented, yadda yadda yadda, but what's important right now is that it has happened, and if we want bands like Muskets to prosper, then we need to step up.

If you have a few spare quid, there are many ways you can help Muskets recover from this incident. The band have put a new t-shirt up for pre-order on their merch site, where you can also find loads of other cool merch. On top of that, the lads in Scared Of Everything have set up a GoFundMe page for donations, where people have already been smashing targets.

I love this scene for the fact that it doesn't take a tragedy to unite bands, friends and fans like this, but right now, Muskets need all the support you can give. Even if you don't have any money to donate, just send them your best wishes. I know that will cheer them up, just to know that people are there in spirit.

I started a GoFundMe to help cut the costs for @musketsuk's stolen gear
Give what you can to these wonderful peoplehttps://t.co/gVn2E54KnW

— Scared of Everything (@SoEVeganPunx) February 8, 2016

Sending all my love to my Muskbros right now.

Danny

GOING BACK TO COLLEGE AND FEELING AWESOME ABOUT IT

FACT OF THE DAY: THIS IS MY 'I MADE IT' FACE

The past week has been the most I've felt like myself in six months. Last night, I went to see Neck Deep and State Champs in London (keep an eye on my Facebook page for a link to my review for Upset soon), had a crowdsurf or two while watching my favourite goth boys in Creeper, and maybe had a few gins. Earlier today, I found out that giant crumpets are a thing. They actually exist. They don't taste any different to normal crumpets, but they're the size of my face. ISN'T LIFE JUST THE SHIZNIT RIGHT NOW?

But tomorrow: tomorrow is where the next exciting chapter of my life really begins. I'll be jobless and soon-to-penniless for five months, but that's because I'll be studying for my NCTJ diploma in journalism. In a nutshell, that's 20 intensive weeks of learning things like media law, court reporting, current affairs and writing in shorthand (which btw, I already fucking hate).

It's going to feel weird going back to a 9-5, five-days-a-week education, but it's the gateway to much bigger things, and if I do well, having a full-time career as a journalist. Despite my thoughts towards shorthand, I am so excited to be starting this diploma, but at the same time, it feels like a slightly unfortunate necessity. I would LOVE it if I could make a living out of being a music journalist, but in this day and age, it's difficult for anyone who isn't in a full-time editorial position, and it's even trickier for people like me who live a fair distance from London. With that in mind, I made the decision last year that it was time to 'broaden my horizons' (ugh, that phrase) as a journalist. Don't get it twisted, I still love writing about music, and I don't think that's ever going to change, but man's gotta pay them bills...

SHIT'S GETTING SERIOUS.

One of the reasons I'm stoked about tomorrow is the fact that it's been kind of a long time coming. I was actually accepted onto the course last April, but due to financial reasons, was left with no choice but to defer my application. Anyone who's been in that position before will tell you how shit that feels. I've spent the last six months saving up the pennies and working my fingers to the bone in an upmarket hotel in Southampton, being tested physically, mentally, and emotionally on horrendous shift patterns with what I'm sure will now be a permanently-screwed body clock. Someone on TripAdvisor also called me "the snottiest barman in Southampton", but hey, I think that sounds punk rock as fuck, so cheers 'RacingAl' - shut up and drink your pinot noir, you willy.

I'm talking about this job as if it was the worst experience of my life in slave-like conditions; it wasn't, it really wasn't, but for the whole time, everything felt so far out of reach, which is why doing stuff like writing for Upset, listening to That's Not Metal and, of course, relaunching Randon's Reviews became really cathartic. 

But I did it, and man, I feel amazing. I'm absolutely terrified and nervous to my core for tomorrow, but god damn! Now, as I mentioned before, I've been warned that the next 20 weeks are going to be really full-on - where that leaves Randon's Reviews, I'm not sure. This particular incarnation of the blog is, in my opinion, the strongest yet, and I feel more confident in blogging in my own voice as opposed to sound too much 'like a journalist', and I went into this knowing full well that it may have to spend its fair share of days on the back burner. But the passion is there. If I want to write on here, I will write on here, like I'm doing right now. Just spouting bollocks about TripAdvisor reviews and giant crumpets...

Have a good week my friends, I know I will (especially considering what's for breakfast tomorrow...)

Danny

WHITE-HOT NOISE: LIGHTCLIFFE - 'NOT ME' (TRACK PREMIERE)

Like your pop-punk to punch you right in the feels? Like tender, melancholic verses and sharp, intense choruses? Meet Lightcliffe, they'll be right up your alley.

Fresh out of London, this emo quartet are gearing up to peddle their "sad songs" with the very best of the bunch in 2016. Assembled by former members of grungy-punk outfit Resident (who gigged with the likes of Moose Blood), their debut single, 'Not Me', is a promising way for the four-piece to get the ball rolling.

"This track is our entrance onto the scene," says drummer Ben McDowell, explaining the track's classically emo narrative of "old relationships" and "a lack of confidence". "We didn't want to just start a Facebook page and demand people to pay for music they have never heard."

"There's lots more in the pipeline," Ben anticipates for the year ahead. "We have another track ready to go [and] we're booking some shows for March and April - it's shaping up nicely."

The track is now available to purchase on the band's Bandcamp page for just 50p (that's less than a Kinder Bueno is these days), but because Blogger is a douchecanoe and wouldn't let me embed a stream of the track from Bandcamp, you can stream it via the band's Soundcloud page below:

Be sure to also like the band on Facebook and follow them on Twitter to stay up-to-date with what they'll be up to in the coming months...

Do you think that your band has a white-hot noise that deserves to be heard? Show me whatcha got: randonsreviews@gmail.com

Danny