B-sides Overshadow Unremarkable Single
The 4th single to be lifted from the Stratford quartet’s debut album ‘This Is An Emergency’ (a review of which will appear on Room Thirteen soon – keep your eyes peeled) certainly isn’t short in the energy department. ‘Body Rot’ kicks into life with a raucous explosion of huge garage-punk hooks, filled with a pedal-to-the-metal enthusiasm that is so often the calling card of such a young and hungry band. The vocals are unapologetically British sounding, although they sit a little too high in an otherwise slightly muddy mix, which has a slight ‘battle of the bands’ feel to it.
Whilst the track jumps and sings in all the right places, with all the buzz and excitement surrounding Antihero, I have to say I was expecting something a little more spectacular. It is nice to see however, that Antihero have put some effort into the decidedly decent b-sides – these aren’t just tracks that ‘weren’t quite good enough to get onto the album’. The grooving ‘I Want Out’; with it’s megaphone vocals and fuzzed-out guitars, sounds like Queens Of The Stone Age jamming with MC5 and Cream, and, after it’s ‘false start’, ‘She’s Got Plans’ blossoms into a beautiful heartfelt ballad. They may not have the same commercially radio-friendly properties as the single, but it’s the B-sides that in my opinion mark out Antihero as one’s to watch – it just remains to be seen which route they chose to go down with the album. Here’s hoping…