Toronto’s Days Like Today produced one of the best unsigned releases of 2013 in our opinion. Their ‘Vacate’ debut EP was five tracks of hard hitting alt-rock with some huge guitar riffs and even bigger vocal melodies. That release, and the band themselves, should have got far more attention and this follow up EP could well tip the scales in their favour. ‘We’re Only Human’ is just as anthemic, just as direct, and makes a late surge for one of our favourite EPs of 2014.
So what makes Days Like Today so appealing? ‘What’s It Like’ opens the release strongly and in many ways showcases the band’s plus points neatly. It opens with a rolling drum beat and then quickly springs to life and rumbles through a fast verse and a quicker and livelier chorus. The Canadians have a touch of grit in the vocals and this works nicely throughout, though perhaps does lack some of the more instant vocal melodies of the first EP.
Despite tagging themselves as pop-punk, Days Like Today have far more of a heavy edge – think Moneen meets Thrice in places rather than the sunnier side of alternative music. This is particularly evident in the latter stages of lead single ‘Hourglass’ where the band really head down a more progressive route. The fact that Moneen’s Kenny Bridges is listed as the EP producer could be partly to thank for this – a front man whose own band really took listeners on a technical and deep journey with their albums. The producer’s influence carries through to ‘Second Chances’ superbly – the opening guitar riffs could easily have come from the excellent ‘Are We Really Happy With Who We Are Right Now?’.
The band do still leave their own mark though and ‘Hell In My Head’ is slowed down a touch and that makes a huge difference. There’s a bite in the chorus still, but you get more of a uplift into the bridge and that leaves far more of an impact. That momentum is taken into ‘Last Call’ and ‘Closer’ as the EP comes to a really strong end. The softer section a few minutes into the final track is perhaps the highlight of the whole EP, building slowly and then really driving the release home.
If Days Like Today get the right touring opportunities then there’s no reason why they can’t fly through 2015. With ‘We’re Only Humans’ they’ve given themselves another great platform to push on and we hope they take it.