After returning from a short hiatus inspired by singer Reed Wolcott’s move to California, We Are The Union are back with their six-track EP called ‘Keep It Down’. With this offering the band has carried on down the path they were on, creating catchy pop-punk songs to be enjoyed by groups of friends at summer parties.
With second song ‘The Dreams That You Forgot’ you can really feel the California influence already. The song sounds like if Jack Johnson picked up an electric guitar and stopped being so shit. You can imagine a bunch of dreaded crusties barefoot on the beach, playing hacky-sack whilst this song blasts out.
‘Keep It Down’ has catchy choruses, the production level is great and it has that classic pop punk sound. It’s more ‘pop punk with ska influences’, rather than strictly ‘ska-punk’ but, genres are dumb anyway.
There’s a sense of realism throughout the EP with Wolcott singing “I thought we could take on the world, don’t prove me wrong, just sing along before the moment’s gone” on ‘The King of Chords’. We Are The Union know they’re not gonna set the world alight, but they’re happy with where they’re at.
‘Keep It Down’ is nothing new, but We Are The Union aren’t trying to do that anyway – they just write classic pop-punk songs and have a good time. Whilst ‘Keep It Down’ isn’t a release to go down in history, it’s a great companion for the summer months.
CONOR MACKIE