According to their Myspace, “Samiam is a band that has rocked for many moons”. Despite this, I’ve never actually had the chance to hear any of their work. So it’s about time I gave their eighth (yes – EIGHTH!) studio album a listen and see what I’ve been missing out on.
Right from the off, it’s clear that Samiam have the distinctive sound of band unphased by the rise and fall of fashionable music genres. With a sound similar in style to Hey Mercedes and Hot Water Music, this is raw melodic punk rock with nothing else diluting it.
CD opener ‘Take Care’ doesn’t waste any time getting down to business and straight away we’re introduced to the distinctive guitar and rhythm section that holds together the album through the rest of its 40 minutes. When Jason Beebout’s vocals kick in for the first verse, it’s clear there’s a definite Jawbreaker influence in there, as the band takes on a fuller melodic punk sound.
However, for the most part, the record doesn’t progress much further than this. Apart from perhaps the vaguely Alkaline Trio-esque verses in ‘Believer’ and the frankly weird CD closer ‘Ham Bone’, the songs are all very much interchangeable, and at times it’s hard to tell which one you’re listening to without the tracklisting in front of you. There’s definite standout tracks in ‘Get it right’ for it’s catchy chorus and ‘Come Home’, as it works well as a sweet little ballad, but other than this most of the record is pretty middle of the road.
There’s no over-production here, no glossy coat, and no overly-pretentious minute-long breakdowns. This is a melodic punk band making catchy melodic songs, and while it doesn’t bring anything new to the table, ‘Whatever’s Got You Down’ is a collection of songs that use a tried and tested formula with some definite success.
Andrew