aaamusic | On 13, Nov 2011

Drinking EP is a promising title. For a debut effort especially. What it promises, is fun, joy, fist-in-the-air choruses and general couldn’t-care-less vibe. You get all of that, and in great amounts, from The Social Club. These North-Londoners have grouped together some of the finest names in the let’s-not-take-this-music-business-thing-seriously-shall-we tradition (Weezer, Paramore, and hell, even Blur) and meshed them up in more or less equal parts to create this release. Avoiding Clichès Like The Plague is another quite promising title, and as an opener this means huge track pressure. It is fun, violent, cheeky and catchy, all in the right places; as for avoiding clichès… not too sure about that. Clichès are there for a reason. Blaming other people in song format – “Here’s to you for ruining everything” is the refrain here – is definitely a clichè; but, with a little help from their friend the echoing keyboard, it works, so who cares. Our absolute favourite is Song Contest, a track that simmers with longing and misunderstanding, but is so deceptively playful. Definitely the Cuomo-est moment of the EP, the guitar solo is a treat, even for people like us who hate guitar solos.

What’s great about these songs is how revealing they are on a personal level, while still being fun and chaotic and messy.  It’s a tough balance to achieve, that one, so well done.

 

Chiara Amoretto