Fledgling rockers #1 Defender reveal their diary…
#1 Defender are one of those unusual bands who can appeal to a wide range of people whilst still sounding rather boring. The vocals and guitars on their new EP ‘The Diary Truthful’ rage with the type of anger emos adore. This is the kind of record that can only be listened to once in a while because it lacks the necessary layers to give a new slant to the songs. However, this does not mean to say that #1 Defender lack the talent to get anywhere.
‘I , Ashley B’ is a rather angsty way to begin an EP with, but it showcases their wild passionate sound effortlessly. With #1 Defender being so young, they have enough time to develop their sound into something highly impressive. The talent they have can be found in their lead in track, as it can with most of their music if you can look through the rugged guitars.
After the chaos of ‘I, Ashley B’, the beginning of ‘The Death of Jenny Calendar’ is a much more laid back affair. It slowly breaks into ferocious growls from all the band members. Third up is ‘When Hal Jordan Saved the Sun’, a Biffy Clyro-esque song which is considerably slower in pace than the previous two tracks. ‘The Dark side of Beautiful’ surpasses it on many levels however. This, and the delicious ‘Remember How to Fly’ are probably the highlights of ‘The Diary Truthful’. They employ the use of typical emo guitars and manage to apply smooth, highly American vocals over the top to successfully create a glossy few minutes of pleasure for those interested in the new breed of melodic hardcore that will surely be appearing in every magazine and radio playlist soon.