Another week and three more awesome EPs for us to check out, from metal to country! Let’s dive right in!
Detroit Run: Defiance – Part 1
The UK alt rockers return this week with their highly anticipated sophomore EP. Combining sounds of everything from Linkin Park to The Five Hundred to modern Bring Me the Horizon, but also having an interesting lighter and heavily synth-edge that makes them feel completely fresh, it makes for a damn fun listen! The two singles are awesome, as is the anthemic ‘Prototype’. However, the whole thing is fantastic, and worth listening through from start to finish at least once! From the multi-layered vocals to the heavy guitars to the uplifting, huge synths, it all sounds great and works so well together. The production on it is incredible too, everything getting it’s time to shine and sounding MASSIVE. The band have been a bright light in the UK underground scene and are already gathering much deserved momentum, which this release will surely see them gather more of. I already can’t wait to hear part 2, whenever that is due to come out! A solid 8/10
Brake Loose: Frenetic
The Dublin-based, 80s-tinged rock quartet have been around for a little while now, gradually putting out singles and growing their audience and sound, so safe to say this debut EP has plenty of hype and anticipation surrounding it! It’s easy to see why too, as this is a great collection of five punky rock songs! It somehow feels like the perfect blend of Billy Idol and Misfits, and I’m all for it! Having said that, then you have ‘LOVE ON FIRE’ has more of an early late 90s feel to it, like Alice in Chains or even Manson. Heck, every song on here has a different vibe and feel to it, yet all somehow also feel like the same band at the same time. It’s a real testament to the band’s writing talent, and made for an incredibly interesting listen! Like I wasn’t expecting the breakdowns and screams of ‘kiss me bye bye’ at all, it coming perfectly out of the left field, like better Sleep Token!
There isn’t a bad song on here either, every single one is a highlight in its own right! How I haven’t checked out this band before now is beyond me, as I’m already obsessed! And being a new fan, it didn’t really affect me that a couple of the tracks on this release have been out for a while. I immediately want more of this, but for now this EP will surely be on repeat or me plenty over the coming weeks and months. The band deserve to be massive, and hopefully this release will push them into that sort of direction. As you can probably tell, I loved this, and it’s a very solid 9.5/10 from me!
The Castellows: Homecoming
Hey look, I got it in the right article this time! As you can no doubt tell by that article, I am very much a fan of this country trio. That didn’t change with this release! It’s another beautiful neo-traditional country/Americana blend packed full of incredible harmonies, catchy choruses and some really great string work throughout. Songs like ‘Sheltered’, ‘Freeway’ and the incredible duet(?) with Flatland Cavalry, ‘Place They Call Home’, are all big highlights. However, the whole release is packed full of them; there really isn’t a bad song in the release! The sisters have something truly special together, and it’s no reason they are becoming fast rising stars in the scene. I have to say I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as their previous EP, but that may be more because I’m familiar with the band heading in this time over the quality of the release. It is still a phenomenal release that I would recommend to anyone with even a passing interest in country music. It’s a very easy 9/10 from us!