aaamusic | On 19, Nov 2011

Starting with a fairly batshit pop-punk rifferama (yes I do regret that phrase) Chase The Enemy’s self-titled EP sends me straight back to the halcyon days of being 14, as ‘Weigh Me Down’ feeling like early-2000s American alt-rock emo, albeit a little more unrefined, as singer Jessica Moore has an occasionally off-key but rewardingly gritty style that recalls Brijitte West more than anything, even if the riffs, despite volume and the occasional time signature change are about as edgy as early You Me At Six. This rawness later sinks the sentimentality of ‘Lionheart’, which screams to be the UK answer to Paramore with its accessibly non-threatening “rawwwk” sound in the instruments, but again Moore steals the show and lobs us to the shores of punk. The gently distorted guitars, barely-present bassline and clattering drums seem to belong to another band at points, a serviceable one admittedly, but not the same outfit.

‘Jewels’ adds a piano to the band’s repertoire, as well as a jangling semi-Britpop sound to the guitar, and the vocals are toned down to the realms of breathy-yet-strong, with a chorus of pure pop that really exploits the heartstrings of the listener, but that suffers much the same issues as ‘Lionheart’. There is a charm here, and the chorus-bridge-chorus build is in its own rights gratifying, but it still fails to hit the mark.

‘Hiding Away’ pushes the pace back to full rock, with a vitality and devil-may-care attitude that was amiss on the earlier tracks, and it’s when the band let loose with confidence that their melodicism and musicianship are bolstered by Moore’s powerful yet occasionally unpolished vocal style. The guitar solo is oddly stilted, but the riffing, the drumming and the bassline all finally gel into a song that shows promise. ‘Give Us The Sky’ continues this trend, with a darker, heavier riff leading to an explosive pop-rock hook and a song that from verse to chorus and back again is the kind you can sing along to. The iffy corners and edges to their sound are still there, but again it feels like a more confident work, with the rhythms perhaps not as tight as they could be but all the same they have a stomping, teeny-punk appeal. ‘Victim’, while being an attempt at a closure song, unfortunately falls a little flat, with neither the awkward power of the early tracks, nor the snappy sense of unity and confidence of the latter tracks. It’s not bad, it’s just not particularly notable.

 

I’d call Chase The Enemy a band to watch – if they just keep on going and hone their sound and indeed what they want to do with it, they could yet give the pop-punk fans something new to bounce along to. By turns powerful and underwhelming, melodic and uncomfortable, this is a confusing yet by no means unlovable little collection of tracks.

 

Katie H-Halinski