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Giants

These Are The Days

Written by: RB on 06/10/2012 18:11:09

The first time that I heard Giants was when they played at my university student union. They were a band that showed passion, aggression and had one of the best stage presences I've seen for a long a time. One thing got me thinking though, would they be able to bring all of these qualities on to a CD? Well, they did and cranked it up to 11.

The release of their mini album "These Are the Days" is the second release from the Essex punks, and to sum it up in one word would be rad. They've created an album which knows who their audience are and what they want. The opening track "Did It Mean So Much To You" sets up the pace for the rest of the album. This track has muscular guitars, coarse vocals and melodies that will get stuck in your head for a long time. It is a song that shows within a space of two years Giants have matured into a band that have honed a sound and know how to execute it, to their growing fan base.

The follow up "When It Comes Down To This", keeps up the aggression with a mixture of clean and shouting vocals. With riffs that would keep up with Gallows and drums to match. This song is a serious contender for being the best song on this album. This track keeps up with a constant swagger, that builds up until the song reaches its peak and launches the listener into a fury of even more heavy riffs and explosive drums while introducing the first breakdown of the album.

"Snakes" opens with a snarling bass that sets up for the track quite nicely. The barrage of vocals and drums sadly seem to overpower the guitars but that still doesn't mean this is a weak song. It highlights that the drums and definitely the vocals are the main driving force behind most of Giants songs. With the next song "Won't Be Told", it seems that "Snakes" was the intro while "Won't Be Told" is the full track. "Won't Be Told" is an anthem that is driven by gang vocals and metallic riffs that drive the song throughout. Even the melodic vocals come across with a pinch of spite and anger, which makes this song standout the most on the album.

"Bottled Up" is a nice little filler track that brings the listener down from the barrage of previous tracks and prepares them for the last two songs of "These Are The Days". The next track "Another Day, Another Year (Wasted)" has the exact same structure of its predecessors, but is another highlight on this album. Giants have really shown that they really shouldn't be pigeonholed into one genre with this song, as they go off to show that they can easily dip into multiple genres.

The final track on this is "Boneless", a song that shows off what the British can do with punk rock. With simple guitars, vocals and drums it shows that Giants really know how to mix things up within an album. The only thing that sets this track apart from the rest is that the entire thing is made up of gang vocals and seem to show off the bands unity.

If you're interested in punk rock and have gotten bored of your Gallows records or Lower Than Atlantis' debut then I would seriously check out Giants. They're definitely a band to watch over the next couple of years. You can check them out supporting We Are The Ocean or on their own headline tour which is happening at the moment.

Download: Did It Mean So Much To You, Won't Be Told, Boneless
For The Fans Of: Gallows, Lower Than Atlantis, Descendents
Listen: facebook.com

Release Date 17/09/2012
Self Released