I’d seen a little hype about Basement on the PT forums, then again on Pastepunk a few weeks ago when one of their writers compared them to early Saves The Day, Lifetime and Polar Bear Club. That really got my interest. As a total and complete coincidence the following day Adrian at City of Gold emailed me asking for a review. Sometimes running PT really does have its perks…
Basement are a group of young kids from East Anglia who play an East Coast inspired brand of pop-punk that really does sound a bit like it was influenced by ‘Jersey‘s Best Dancers’. ‘1004 Porter Street’ takes away some of the quicker Lifetime moments, but in terms of vocal delivery there are certainly comparisons. And that’s no bad thing. At all. This six-tracker is an impressive piece of work and it’s no surprise at all to see why the band are getting a pretty solid reputation so quickly. Catchy and gruff without being too much of either, each song is nailed perfectly. ‘Meet Me In St Louis‘, for instance, manages to get the perfect balance between melody and hard hitting riffs. It’s not too pop for the punk kids and not too punk for the pop kids. And it’s really not easy to get that mixture right, believe me.
Basement have a very bright future ahead of them indeed and I can see them taking the US by storm too. Grab this record on 7-inch before it’s too late.