We Stand Victorious- Forever Down But Never Out EP (03/08/2011)

     We Stand Victorious are ‘good friends’ from Leeds and Wakefield that came together to play similar music to their own tastes, such as Deaf Havana and Save Your Breath. Although they do not claim to be ‘awesome musicians’ they have been playing for a year and a half and write songs documenting aspects of their own lives. This, their very first EP, ‘Forever Down But Never Out’ was recorded in Stockport and produced by Mike Bennet who was previously worked with The Ocean Between Us and Empires Fade.

     The EP begins with a self explanatory track labelled ‘Intro’, which lasts just one minute and sixteen seconds, is simply a taster of what is yet to come from the rest of the EP. It is a very pop punk, Blink-182 esque introduction, with a light guitar riff that melts into drums and a burst of screamo and gang vocals, creating a good opening to any live show. Particularly when second track ‘Drop Out’ commences, you can hear the heavy Deaf Havana influences, but the boys have done rather well to construct a punchy pop vibe without being limp or God forbid conventional. Vocals are very American influenced but blend very well with other instrumentation. Their songwriting is slightly unusual, but for some reason in this track, the screamo inputs do not quite work.

We Stand Victorious

     We Stand Victorious have done remarkably well to not come across as too ‘try hard’ or simply pinching the best parts from professional bands. Yet by ‘What’s So Great About It?’ the long track introductions have become somewhat tedious and the screamo aspects seem unnecessary as the drums and guitars make the sound heavy enough. ‘Can I Interest You In A Nightcap? No Thank You, I Don’t Wear Them’ is not only a horrendously long song name, putting the likes of Fall Out Boy to shame, but is the most pitifully disappointing joke to be read in a long time. It momentarily begins with a My Chemical Romance This Is How I Disappear (The Black Parade, 2006) symbol based drum beat, which is soon tarnished by gang and screamo vocals. However, the tempo changes are very abrupt yet merge well. Lyrically, We Stand Victorious are straightforward, which makes them come across as immature musicians, ‘how much can we take and how long until we break?’. If anything it is a shame because the potential through the band’s instrumentation is positive.

     ‘Rhubard City’ is weak and weedy and if anything, makes you question if they are any good components that make up pop punk as a genre. But a minute and a half into the track, Deaf Havana ‘inspirations’ come back into play, constructing the only half decent few seconds of the song. Final track ‘When You’re made Out Of Lego (It’s Hip To Be Square)’ is yet another pitiful comedic and fragile musical attempt.

 It is clear to see that the best aspects of We Stand Victorious’ musical creations are those borrowed from other bands, including Josh Franceshi’s motto ‘Down But Not Out’ for their EP title, which is a slap in the face for pop punk fans. At times, however there are glimmers of their own personalities and general inputs that come into play. The best thing for this band to do would be continue writing considering music you love without producing drained and dreary versions of substantial songs already successfully released.

3/5

Years- All We Have Is Now (July 2011)

    Years, formed in Manchester boast influences from Rock and Pop Punk heavyweights such as Jimmy Eat World, You Me At Six and Paramore, and have played shows with the likes of Save Your Breath and Man Overboard. The EP, ‘All We Have Is Now’ was recorded in July this year in Stockport and the band claim they are all ‘very proud’ of the final outcome.

           Their influences are more than clear from the get go with first track ‘Here’s To You’. Although they are musically capable they fail to stand out from other emerging pop punk bands. Although vocals are strong they have yet to define themselves as a band collectively, and overall, their sound is very similar to We Are The Ocean. It also appears that the band are used to playing live shows and their songwriting is formed around crowd pleasing aspects for future performances but are currently characterless as a band.

     The introductory melodic elements of title track ‘All We Have Is Now’ are beautiful if a little repetitive, particularly because vocals do not kick in until almost a minute into the track. Again, influences are incredibly clear once again, specifically in relation to the Paramore track ‘When It Rains’(Riot, 2007). Additionally such a gentle backbone of melodic work does not bode well with such a deep, and frankly hit and miss and emotionless vocal. Yet it is clear that the band have put a great deal of time and effort into this track in particular as it is the best produced. It also depicts the vocalist’s skill better than the remainder of the EP put together.

Years' artwork: 'All We Have Is Now'

     ‘Runaway’ begins with heavy inspirations from You Me At Six, and their track ‘Stay With Me’(Hold Me Down, 2010) in particular. Although Years’ vocalist is alike to We Are The Ocean’s, Years’ sound fails to be as epic or interesting. The vocalist may also have a groundbreaking vocal range, but it is never utilised, which makes each track appear very monotone and rather generic.

      Years have done well with regards to track positions, with a good mixture of ballad based songs and their more upbeat work. However, ‘Hide And Seek’ is limp and may not highlight the band’s abilities or potential. ‘Waiting’ is a nice attempt at a big ballad finale but even with gang vocals, it fails to excite and is, in fact, monotonous.

      Overall, Years are in desperate need of discovering their identity and not relaying on their influences from such world renowned bands. Also, being more specific and personal when it comes to songwriting may help spark emotion for the listener because, ‘Call me whenever you need me...’ are dry and dreary and very conventional, but for all the wrong reasons.


2/5