Run to the hills
It seems that everyone these days has some "New Wave" aspect to their work, on paper Five O'clock Heroes have some fine credentials: a producer who has worked with The Rapture and Secret Machines, they're currently touring with the latest big thing The Bravery and the hotly tipped fledglings The Paddingtons and consist of members from New York and London. In todays current climate that looks like a recipe for success, and suggests a band that have been making all the right moves. Sadly all this doesn’t translate on to record.
"Run to her" is a rather joyless trawl through bland guitar workouts, laboured chorus', lifeless production and a singer that suggests his vocation is away from the world of music; the closest comparison is with those thankfully forgotten soap dodgers from a few years back The Levellers. It's totally lacking any of the verve and sense of agitated joy that the current crop of New Wave bands give out.
The b-side is marginally better, it’s more precise for one and it moves around with a sense of purpose and energy, but what lets it down again is the lumpy vocal and the total lack of surprises coming your way. With the aforementioned connections someone has obviously seen something in this band, maybe they can cut it live or have stronger songs in their arsenal, and sadly this release gives no indication of this and makes you indifferent to finding out.