Pop-rock
Every genre has its leaders, ones whom others will attempt to follow. Every rock guitarist will spend hours at a time perfecting their most authentic Hendrix squeal; every singer-songwriter will leaf through Dylan's prolific back pages with a magnifying glass, and every showboat front man will not rest until the patented Jagger strut is within their grasp. The problem with emulating leaders in such a potentially vacuous genre as contemporary mainstream pop-rock is that no matter how high you set your sights, you will only ever really be a pale imitation of Coldplay.
Even the band's name, The Amateurs, does not evoke dizzying levels of innovation, or even high quality, unless its an ironic shield against criticism, (think of the scene in 'Wayne's World 2', where Wayne asks the club's bouncer, “Who's playing tonight?”, “The Sh**ty Beatles.” “ Are they any good?”, “ No, they're pretty sh*t.” “Oh, so it's not just a clever name...”). The EPs eponymous first track has lead singer Matthew Colley aping Chris Martin's falsetto warble to a tee amongst enjoyable, yet instantly forgettable guitar licks. Prosaic chord progressions allow the band the room to experiment a little with alternating riffs, while Colley turns in fairly impressive vocal performance that would win the hearts of karaoke queens world-wide.
'London Sky's' ramshackle harmonica-intro actually hints at something a little quirky, before lurching into such a direct pastiche of Goo Goo Dolls' 'Give a Little Bit' that the band should seek professional legal advice.
'Mystery Thing' is fun in the same way that having a beer at lunchtime is quite fun; a little indulgent, quietly rebellious, but you know that nothing's really going to happen. It's piano-driven pop tells a story of a girl that has, “never been to school in her life...she never looks back.” Somewhere there's a character in a Journey song wishing for a better part.
This all may appear a little harsh; the songs are pleasant enough, the effort is certainly there and if it were 1998 and Dawson's Creek needed a soundtrack, then The Amateurs may be the band for the job. Regrettably, it is 2009 and we've all moved on; The Amateurs will either have to have to catch up and start imitating some true legends or stay peaking at mediocrity.