Pop-rock
If the tabloids are to be believed, then Britain does not have a lot to look forward to this summer; the recession is forcing everyone to pinch their pennies, the government is filled with crooks who seem intent on pinching our pennies...and Big Brother has returned for yet anther series.
One band that are not suffering from the summertime blues are The Toniks, a power pop-lite band hailing from Guilford whose debut E.P. makes The Feeling sound like Nine Inch Nails. The E.P. kicks off with 'Wonderful Then', a breezy yet hugely enjoyable pop tune that channels the instrumentation of Coldplay, the harmonies of Westlife and an interlude clearly purchased from www.rent-a-solo.com. The classic pop trick of a piano following the verse's melody instantly ingrains the tune in the listener's consciousness, before the E.P.'s eponymous track crashes politely into our eardrums with lead singer... ensuring us that, “oh yeah, I'll do what I want to do this summer!” Clearly there's no tightening of The Toniks' purse stings then, certainly not on the crisp clean production value of this studio-polished homage to The Beach Boys.
Regrettably, by the third track, 'Simple Things', listeners' cynicism will surely have set in, the familiar melodic structures and passable harmonies no longer able to cover up the cracks in cringe-worthy lines such as, “the morning sun, the air that we breathe, you are the one that makes me believe”. This upbeat glee continues on to the final track, 'So Much Better' a music-by-numbers pop number that owes so much to every power-pop band of the 90's, it almost sounds like a pastiche; yet what is to be expected from a band whose MySpace site actually has an image of an ice cream as a backdrop?
The Toniks aren't a fantastic, innovative or seminal band that will be remembered years from now. They are a boy band with guitars, a rock band that you would want your daughters to meet or a studio band for a Warner Bros. cartoon soundtrack, (yet too much of the sickening chirpiness would be enough to turn Tweetie-Pie suicidal.) Nonetheless, their upbeat pop sheen offers a pleasant respite to the emotional drain that The Daily Mail has promised us all this summer.