For a brief moment the introduction to track two, ‘Like a Blister’, swoops in as though Bon Jovi has just set up shop. In true blink-and-you’ll-miss-it fashion that feeling’s gone before you know it and the anthemic punk rock sound that resonates throughout this release takes over the reigns. It’s a throwaway moment but goes a long way to emphasising that rock is the fundamental component to ‘Dumbwaiter’, the debut E.P. from Bostonians The Cold Beat.
In vast, over-sweeping comparison land The Cold Beat comes across like The Replacements passing by The Gaslight Anthem at a little more that the regulation speed limit. It’s all frayed rock ‘n’ roll jumbled with a punk ethic, melodic choruses and rolling guitars. It’s by no means immediate but on repeated spins there’s a personality that starts to seep out, a heart-on-the-sleeve charm that emotes passion, albeit somewhat restrained.
Key to this record are the vocals of Chris Amaral, all worn and distinct and far from polished and pristine. Without a doubt there’re songs on this E.P. that are kept head above water by these, which is fortunate in that there’s not really enough variety on the individual tracks to mark the band out otherwise. It’s all solid enough as a collected works but there’s no one track that pokes its head out in a bid for attention. After just shy of 20 minutes you’d be hard pushed to recall the gap between any two songs.
‘Dumbwaiter’ isn’t a perfect release, nor is it all that original. To be honest that’s most likely not what The Cold Beat was going for anyway. It is however chock full of decent rock ‘n’ roll delivered with excellent sounding vocals and echoing the bands own passion. The impression is that The Cold Beat plays for themselves first, and that’s by no means a bad backbone to structure your band around.
Alex