I’ve recently purchased both new records by Rival Schools and New End Original, and they have both been excellent. So I was quite excited when I managed to get my grubby mits on a copy of ‘Rival Schools United By Onelinedrawing,’ featuring both Walter and Jonah from the respective bands. Unfortunately this is not as good as either of their respective band’s full-lengthers.
Opening with ‘Green Is Good’, you just cannot do that much in just 77 seconds. But what they did do, they might as well have not bothered. A slow intro, almost mantra like, is followed by one line of vocal and then some mindless feedback. Hmmmm…. so that’s one of the six tracks down, and I’m not impressed so far.
‘Take One For The Team‘ is much more like it, sounding a cross between both New End Original and Rival Schools, although it’s not as good as either band. Driven by a repetitive bass riff, the song builds up to what should be a cracking chorus, but it never quite hits the spot. Then, 90 seconds in, the song almost restarts with a very lo-fi vocal which is barely audible, before about a minute later, it kicks back in again. Not bad, but not a patch on ‘United By fate’ or ‘Thriller’.
‘Always’ is excellent. Much more upbeat, and although there is still very much a lo-fi edge to the vocal, the song is far better than the other two. Cool guitar riff towards the end of the song too. But, and I’m being hyper critical, the song just seems to fade out, where maybe carrying it on would have been a better idea. But who am I to argue with Jonah?
‘Where I’m From’ has the distinctive Walter vocal, but sounds like the last Stereophonics single. Which usually wouldn’t be a good thing, but in this case it does suit the song. It’s by no means brilliant, but it’s not half bad, and it’s certainly better than the first two songs on this CD. However, it would almost certainly be one of the weaker tracks on ‘United By fate’ if the band stuck it on the end of the CD.
At last, a cracking song. ‘Be Real’ starts like the bands that I’ve come to love, and continues in this mould. Experimental in places, with some cool guitar fill-ins, this could be Radiohead exploring their punkier side. Which I think would be quite interesting. If the song actually kicked in at any point then it would kick severe ass, but instead there is just a key change at the bridge. Maybe I’m just asking for the moon on a stick…
The final track of this EP is ‘Contraire’ and it starts off like it might rock like a bastard. And although it’s the heaviest track on the CD by far, it just feels like the band were holding back slightly. Still, it’s easily the best song on the EP, and probably wouldn’t have been that out of place on ‘United By Fate’.
After waiting quite a long time to get my hands on a copy, you can probably sense my disappointment at what is, at best, an average EP. There is none of the genius that litters both bands new releases, and that, for me, is a tragedy. Even the biggest fans of New End Original and Rival Schools will probably be a bit disappointed.
Paul Savage