A Delightfully Uplifting Suprise
The extravagantly titled Tell It To The Marines from Bury St. Edmonds claim to be heavily influenced by Coldplay, Brand New and Joy Division, to name a few of the group’s musical inspirations. Upon listening to their new EP ‘Bridges’, it is not difficult to notice the effect that both English indie and American melodic punk have had on the band’s music. But the way that they have merged these genres to create a very personal sound makes for a rather enjoyable CD.
The first track on the EP is called ‘Flareguns’. The recognisable sound of the tuneful but heavy guitars and the energetic drumming indicates the start of a passionate pop-rock song. However, this pleasant but familiar style is soon transformed into something quite different by the introduction of Timi Hyland’s shamelessly English vocals. This offers a refreshing change from the kind of mock-American singing that is heard too often from bands of the pop-punk persuasion on this side of the pond. It comes as a delightfully uplifting surprise to hear a band that wants to celebrate the type of music that they love, but aren’t afraid to throw their own personality into the mix and explore something a bit different.
On the next track ‘My New Best Friend’, TITTM continue with the same theme and, during the chorus, Hyland provides some of the most emotional-sounding vocals on the EP. They then move onto a more straightforward indie-rock song for ‘806’.
The drums heard on the title track add an almost folk-like twist to the proceedings, which helps to change the direction of the music again. What makes ‘Bridges’ one of the stand-out tracks on the EP is how Timi Hyland makes the most of his voice to shape the song. It goes from its shouted and intense best to a mere whisper later on.
‘Fireworks’ marks the end of the CD for what, at first, seems like a mellow indie track but soon builds into full on rock at the chorus, before developing into a gloriously pounding noise that sees the song to the end.
‘Bridges’ is a great debut EP from a Suffolk-based group who will, hopefully, gain some popularity in the near future. Tell It To The Marines may not be an amazing band and Timi Hyland may not be an amazing singer, but together they create a convincing sound and, if this continues, we may hear more from them soon.