Imagine early Route 215 crossed with Osker and you have Northamptonshire’s Never So True. Brash and cocky with a cheeky zombiefied edge, the young punks leave a positive impact from their first proper release. While they’re far from the finished product, there is enough here to suggest the band have a bright future. The vocals are rough and raw in a very good way, hence the Osker comparisons. It’s a vocal sound you don’t hear all that often anymore and while it may be an acquired taste, the band at least stand out.
The songs, most of which seem to have a zombie theme running through them, are better than basic, but definitely need a lot of work. As a band they’re above-average, but it’s the individual performances which stand out, suggesting the group need a little bit of work to improve their cohesion. As I mentioned, the vocals are impressive, but this, at times, is let down by a flat musical sound – the guitars and bass are competently played, but somewhere along the line the power isn’t matched. The old Route 215-isms are present and correct in a number of tracks – ‘Zombie Music’ and ‘It’s Over’ for instance – but that’s no bad thing.
Never So True show plenty of promise and if they keep the good parts and work hard on the bits which need improving they could well become a mainstay of the UK scene.
www.myspace.com/neversotrue
paul