Vanilla Pod

Seeing Out The Sunrise EP

Written by: PP on 16/06/2015 20:38:30

Norfolk, UK punk rock quintet Vanilla Pod have been around the block since starting up as teenagers back in 1995. They have five releases underneath their belt, several European tours and even some BBC Radio One airplay to boast with, yet they've never really broken through to this point in the European punk scene. Based on their new, seven track mini-album "Seeing Out The Sunrise", it's fairly obvious why. They play the kind of snotty, snarly melodic punk rock with yelled vocals and a few relatively catchy melodies embedded within that makes them fit in most basement style shows, but lack the standout tracks to elevate them to a higher level. It's too anonymous and straight up to go further than the local basements across Europe, and even at this level, it's difficult coming up with direct references to other bands similar their sound. It's basically about as generic as punk rock of this kind comes.

There is an exception on the record, though. The melodically ringing guitars and the vocal lines of "Wishing Well" are catchy and suggest the band are able to write songs worth checking out at least a few times. Opener "She's Dead Now" is also decent with its explosive opening verse, but again lacks the elements to make it a memorable listen. Ultimately, this is the biggest stumbling stone for the record overall. It's tightly played and contains most elements typical to basement punk rock with a few hardcore influences in between, but the songs are just not good enough. Sure, you can hear the odd Hot Water Music riff here, the NOFX inspired cut there, but mostly they fall within a similar realm as bands like Ma Jolie, Misgivings etc. If you haven't heard of those guys either, it's because they play an equally forgettable brand of basement punk with shouted vocals and few melodic riffs sandwiched in between. Straight forward, mid-tempo basement punk by the books, nothing more, nothing less.

5

Download: She's Dead Now, Wishing Well
For the fans of: Ma Jolie, Misgivings
Listen: Facebook

Release date 18.04.2015
TNSRecords

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