This four piece hail from the country’s largest political constituency and home of some giant needles (the Isle of Wight if you were wondering) and blast out what they describe as a ‘super geek rock explosion’. This three track demo gives a good indication of what the band are all about;’ plenty of melody, hooks and emotion. But what made me really intrigued is that they name dropped bands as varied as THE KINKS, SAVES THE DAY and IRON MAIDEN as influences, it all bodes well for an interesting sound to say the least, on paper anyways.
It’s far from being the best recording I’ve ever heard in terms of production, which is a shame as the band are clearly not that bad at all. The first track, ‘Fortune to Failure’ is reminiscent of HUNDRERD REASONS but slightly more mellowed out. It’s a super melodic effort with the chorus being the main point of attraction in a song with a fairly basic yet effective structure. ‘Sign of the Times’ carries on the penchant for melody and hooks again with extra emphasis in the chorus in the way of some nice harmonies. It is however some clever drumming which makes a big impression with me on this track though; I’m always a sucker for that kind of stuff. ‘Home is where the Start is’ is much the same as the previous two tracks in that it carries a tuneful vocal line dipped in a pot of slight melancholy but not in an overly, or even slightly depressing way which is commendable as the summer is now here.
All in all this isn’t a bad offering from a band only 18months old. Although their influences (except for IRON MAIDEN) are apparent across the three tracks AWKWARD SILENCE have done well to create their sound without completely ripping off their peers. They’ve also done well to try and distance themselves from the ‘emo-rock’ crowd with the creation of the term; ‘super geek rock explosion’ but at the end of the day if you like stuff like THE GET UP KIDS and WEEZER et al you will like these guys.
Mike