Review Summary: UK boys doing it their way - the right way
Before I even venture into what is bound to be yet another borderline fanboy jizzfest, I think it would only be fair to discuss the background of this EP first. The band in question, Not Advised, hail from the sunny seaside town of Southampton, which is more like being in France than being in most other parts of England, weather wise that is. After achieving some critical success over the past couple of years, the band decided to raid their piggy banks (not to mention the piggy banks of their parents and banks) in order to record an EP that would ultimately leave them massively in debt. But would the risk be worth it?
The EP itself kicks off with a track called ‘Red Light Situation’ which is apparently a song written for their van which often goes into safe mode whilst driving down motorways, in which case the van in question slows down dramatically to about 30 mph and causes a flashing red light to appear on the dashboard. Thankfully, the track lives up to the story behind it. In fact, it does a lot more than that. Imagine Herpes, Chlamydia and Swine Flu, all in a massive melting pot. The resulting concoction can not even compare to the catchiness of this track. Not Advised have taken everything that is good about the often monotonous and uninteresting genre of pop-punk and made it a little bit more British and a lot better.
The rest of the EP continues in similar form, producing music that is not only catchy, but well thought out and superbly executed. Each track produces a massive sing along chorus, whilst bringing something new to the table each time; be it the angst filled hooks of ‘Jane Says Left’ or the power of tracks such as ‘The World’s Not Ready’. They seem to be the total package; a vocalist with a quality voice and great range, guitarists whose influences clearly lie well beyond their chosen genre and a solid backbone provided by the rhythm section of the band, not to mention the vocal harmonies which are quite simply breathtaking at times. Furthermore, the production value throughout is immense. Recorded at Longwave Studios in Wales (Funeral For A Friend, GlassjAw), the quality of recording is far superior to that of most EPs, and this pristine style really helps to bring the songs to life.
So to answer my earlier question, was the risk worth it? Indeed it was. And after recent tours with the likes of You Me At Six under their belt, one can only imagine where the band will go from here, as topping this CD will be no mean feat, let’s just hope the answer is up.
