A Tale of Two Cities - New Horizons
It's always nice to stumble across a band who share the same name as your favourite Charles Dickens novel. A Tale of Two Cities, thankfully, are as delightful as the novel they've (presumably) named themselves after. They've shared stages with big names like Deaf Havana and Attack Attack, and it's easy to see why.
The New Horizons EP holds great promise for the Bristolian five-piece. The explosive and dynamic Four Words kicks everything off wonderfully; the pummelling, rumbling guitar work and the heavy, pounding drums are a strong indicator that they are not messing around: they mean business. This colossal, thrashing number truly is a fantastic opening to the EP. The equally ferocious Familiar Traits carries on the antics superbly, and makes me wonder why I have never heard of these guys before now. This track sprinkles a little bit of alternative to their rock sound, and the throaty screaming is a cracking finishing touch. Machine is yet another power-driven tune that is fired at us, giving us extra helpings of compelling vocals, almighty hooks and ripping riffs.
Fire Burning Through Our Wings, however, is a weaker aspect to the EP: the guitar-driven chorus is more diluted, and the thumping, thundering drums seem to have died down a little on this track. Having said that, the delicious blend of clean and screamed vocals maintain the sharp, cutting sound.
New Horizons is not short of aggressive choruses and even more aggressive verses. Though A Tale of Two Cities have a similar sound to a lot of other bands, they've proved with this release that they don't plan on being forgotten any time soon. The main flaw in the EP is that it simply isn't long enough! If you also find that listening to these four songs isn't enough to satisfy your thirst, you can catch the guys on one of their upcoming shows this month.