As much as Punktastic tries its very best to be objective in reviews, some artists would get a better review if a different member of staff got the promo CD. Some music washes by me so easily that I have trouble being objective. I have trouble understanding the current crop of indie-pop bands that are masquerading in the punk scene. I do know it’s sometimes the PR companies that are to blame – charging bands and offering them stories of tons of reviews, only to send all the promo CDs to punk zines because they are the easy options for getting a review. It’s the easy option as the scene is almost all underground and run DIY. But it does mean we get overrun with similar bands here and the more I get, the more difficult it is to win me over. What I’m trying to say is that I am no omniscient voice of underground music – I just write what I think.
Basically, certain bands have to be very, very good to impress me, because at the moment many of them seem to be going for the same sound. So they really need to be talented to stand out. Science vs Romance can write a tune, but this is generic stuff, and there are bands already out there doing it better. The vocals are good – the guy has something about him – but this sounds like a band trying to find their identity. The bar has been set so high by bands like Tellison and Stapleton is the past that, unless you live and breathe this kind of stuff, this is another addition to an already overcrowded scene.
Mike