W!nslow

Get Nice

Written by: PP on 16/05/2013 21:04:45

Second chances for reviews are rare, but considering the rough treatment Montreal pop hardcore act W!nslow received from me in a review of an unmastered demo version of their debut full length "Get Nice", I figured it's only fair to do a proper review of the record, especially because the record sounded like it might have been a decent one underneath the crackling sound issues. The band should clearly have double-checked that they are actually sending mastered versions out to journalists instead of demo versions by accident, but we're all human. Thus here we are again, and unsurprisingly, the result is much, much better than my initial impression.

"Get Nice" is basically a cross between bouncy pop punk and pop-hardcore, with a touch of skate punk thrown in for good measure. "Flick Of A Bean", for instance, is full of ripping leads and skate punk-ish vocal delivery (their clean vocalist shares a LOT in common with Millencolin's Nikola Sarcevic), but it breaks out to crunchy pop hardcore hooks, faint gang shouts, and that sort of thing in the best pop hardcore manner. You also have songs like "Nothing To Write Home About", which essentially reach into Lifetime style melodic hardcore given its tempo and roughened vocals from their second vocalist, but primarily the band dabble in bright, catchy pop punk like on "Go Fly A Kite" or on "Stones Throw Away". "The Cats Meow" should bring into mind Set Your Goals given the half-spoken word style during its verses, and the emotionally charged and passionate singing on "Go See A Guy About A Horse" resembles The Story So Far at least in the beginning.

So yeah, there's plenty of solid pop punk (and surrounding styles/genres) on offer here. Production is decent, leaving the instruments sounding bright and giving the album a feel-good vibe overall. There are still some consistency issues in songwriting overall, but this is a good start.

7

Download: Stones Throw Away, Flick Of A Bean, Go Fly A Kite
For the fans of: Set Your Goals, Such Gold, Four Year Strong, Millencolin
Listen: Facebook

Release date 10.06.2012
Third Time Lucky Rekords

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