Ok, so this was pitched as The Cure meets My Bloody Valentine kind of release by Shoredive Records, so from minute one I’m all aboard. It’s a little more electro than I was anticipating but of course that depends on what era of The Cure we are talking about. On track one it comes off as more of a modern indie pop vibe with dark overtones. I kind of like that track one feels rhythmically like something off of NIN Pretty Hate Machine. It’s almost selling this release short to give it such a rigid comparison saying it’s an amalgamation of just 2 bands because really it has elements of New Order and Depeche Mode as well. For anyone who misses gothy dark 80’s pop but mixed up with a little Bauhaus and Joy Division you might enjoy this. It’s not quite as energetic as something like Joy Division but the beats are very simplistic, have almost no fills and feel like that style. Tracks 2 and 3 almost meld into one another so I wouldn’t mind a little more variety on tempo and mood. Overall I really like this EP but one piece of advice is if you are going to use a vintage drum machine on every track maybe mix up the EQ of the drums a little from track to track. Aside from that fact, which is being nit picky, this has a lot of great things going for it if you are a fan of shoegaze and late 70’s- early 80’s gothy pop.
- Sam Lowry