Really melodic sing-along punk with good drive and bounce. This sounds more like French punk than Swedish (in fact, I could swear it’s French because they’re singing in—actually, it isn’t). Good production, good singing, and tight pop/punk playing with tough guitar.
Charging off the line full speed like the best of TOXIC REASONS or ZERO BOYS, this release has a brawny, mid-tempo punk sound complete with YOUTH BRIGADE style singalongs. Excellent new release.
Melodic rockish pop is NEW ROSE’s stock-in-trade, and the slow-to-mid-tempo tunes on this release show fair promise. “Run for Cover” is upbeat and pleasant, and at least two of the other four tunes show an adeptness for very understated hooks and adequate songwriting. No great revelation, but OK.
A live EP of SLAM cranking out those strong rhythms with effective arrangements and variations. The vocals are extremely raw with a definite deep edge, as the band hits some fast chords, but sticks close to some creative licks. The live mix is not bad, and the energy is very high. A Swedish band with their own distinct style, and good at it.
This Swedish combo fails to enliven their mid-tempo punk format on their latest single. “Tragedy” is an uneventful ditty with lackluster hooks, and the flip sadly rates only as a mishmash of bad production and songwriting. SLAM has done much better than this.
