The Beat Surrender

This is a band citing lots of influences (none of whom seem to come across on the E.P.) who call their style “country punk voodoo soul”. Now that’s just asking for trouble, I immediately thought “Which tosser thought that up?” Always ready with an open mind though, I gave it a fair listen.

Their line up is comprised of two vocalists, one of whom also plays guitar, with a bassist and a drummer. The dual vocals between male and female make for a nice contrast, and lyrically they seem to have something to say, but that’s about all they’ve got going for them really. Expect to hear quite laid back songs – they don’t put much effort into the singing or playing and it’s all pretty much the same tempo throughout.

They must have a lot of different material for their live sets as I am informed their gigs are “designed to get people sweaty and excited” (aren’t all gigs?) Anyway, I can’t see it myself going by this E.P. Even on Track 4 “All Things” when the singers are building to a vocal climax, the guitar and bass carry on strumming away softly in the background. The one standout track is number 5 “Vampyres” which is more of a toe-tapper with a punk twist; although you still can’t hear the guitaring on this track like you would expect.

Basically, the music is more incidental, this record is not a great showcase for the band and their live performances.

All in all there is a feeling of top heaviness with the vocals, the music could be on a tape player in the background for all we know. I’d be pissed off that the singers were getting all the glory if I were the drummer, put it that way.

ALEX IN THE VOID? UNBALANCED.