Posted on August 10, 2010 - by Editor

EP Reviews: Beat The Red Light/ Call Me Ishmael/ Night’s On Fire

Beat The Red Light
Beat The Red Light
TNS Records

We are a bit slow on this one to say the least, and with ample comparisons to Kid Dynamite and some hardcore ska akin to the mighty Voodoo Glow Skulls, Beat The Red Light are a enjoyable and original band. Opening track ‘Never A Dull moment’ has a 90 second instrumental intro before the scream vocals kick in reminding me of recently reviewed Broken Nose (another UK band).  With great riffs and breakdowns and throaty vocals which can also actually sing too, this EP is really well produced. The horns are upbeat and driving which make you want to jump along to the songs. It’s rather dismissive to call BTRL a pure ska punk band as they are more diverse and experimental than that. My one big criticism though is the length of the songs (all over 4:30 minutes) and the opening track as mentioned and all subsequent songs have over extended instrumental intros. The heavy horns and gang vocals come through on second song ‘The Luminous Way’ whilst ‘The Scene Is Under Attack’ is much more skanking and less crusty or skacore while ‘White Collar Pride’ is less enjoyable and original; the final track ‘Send In The Clowns’ is another enjoyable original take on skacore. With overwhelming positive reviews to date it will be interesting to see what exactly happens to Beat The Red Light.

Game of Kings
Call Me Ishmael

Four track EP from the Glasgow based band, who can loosely be categorized in punk rock, under the progressive and experimental variety such as the recently defunct Crime In Stereo. Contemporary and clean layered sounds, it certainly won’t appeal to fans of Oi, street or old school punk but the progressive fans will enjoy the sounds, which has some hints of At The Drive In on the aggressive side but largely more mellowed than that. The EP opener ‘I Am Stop’ with the short burst chorus is vastly different to the  more aggressive ‘Blood And Ashes’ but there is a contrasting vocal style in the verses which are far more sickly sweet. ‘We Are So Far From Daylight’ balances the guitars of the increasingly prominent keys and slow build ups.’ Fish The Tank’ is a lengthy mix of instrumental and hauntingly beautiful and although this is not my ideal choice of music it’s good progressive rock/punk.

Demo EP
Nights On Fire

I think I have and will continue to write ‘sounds like Hot Water Music’ many times before I die which is a testament to that great band but also shows a lack of originality in many new bands. The three piece does rely heavily on melody and of course they are not a pure HWM carbon copy, but the hooky riffs and songs don’t stray off the unexpected path and the mid tempo punk rock is not mind blowing but decent. Starting with ‘Bitter Wasted’ which is ok but second track ‘Next To Nothing’ is far more enjoyable. ‘Repeated’ and ‘To Fall again’ wrap up the Demo EP and truth be told there isn’t too much that excites. Writing this it sounds like I’m being too harsh, but with so many bands coming through, the bar has been raised substantially and on the evidence of this EP there isn’t too much to shout home about.