Staffordshire quartet may yet become heroes in their own right
The more observant amongst you will remember that we recently reviewed the Staffordshire quartet's latest single 'Body Rot'; finding it a little underwhelming and certainly not of a standard befitting a band surrounded by such a frenzied media hype. We were however enamoured with the more unique b-sides, and it just remained to be seen which path they chose to tread with the full-length. It turns out that the single as an overall package was a good indicator of what to expect from 'This Is An Emergency', as it's an eclectic documentation of a band not afraid to flirt and experiment with a variety
of styles. The grunge-lite of the Foo Fighters-esque 'UK Garage Girl' tussles with the fuzz-ballad 'Why Do You Look So Scared?', while the bizarre reverb-strewn 'You Got Nothing' watches on perplexed.
Whilst they may delve into a variety of different sounds, most of them are similarly tinged by their obvious affinity for getting down'n'dirty; and it's not until adventurous closer 'Trapped Inside The Record' that they really open the creative taps. It's tracks like this and the excellent 'Don't Trust The DJ' that go someway to justifying the critical acclaim lauded upon them, but for the most part I'm still left with a feeling that this is a band yet to fulfil their true potential. At points the album cuts a somewhat unsettling mix, as the beautiful vocal harmonies sometimes sound a little out of place amidst such rambunctious music. Still, with a masochistic work ethic that has seen them play over 300 shows in the last two years (sharing the stage with everyone from Million Dead to pop star rejects Liberty X!), it's fair to say that they have a reasonably good chance of maturing into a band that is truly special.