Post Romantics – Sarah Tonin and the Later Lack of Lust for Life
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This is a dual review of the latest EP of the band who first caught my attention back in October last year. Also, of the launch party on 22nd May.
For those of you who haven’t read my first review, or not heard of the band, they are a four piece comprising of Ali Horn – Lead Vocals/Guitar, Louis Bransgrove – Lead Guitar/Backing vocals, Ellis Bo Fellis – Bass/ Backing Vocals and Tom Grant – Drums/ Backing vocals.
My first reaction when I got the venue was ‘Your having a launch party for an Indie band in a tea room?’ I was worried, the venue seemed small, and just not up to the task. I needn’t worry, I went upstairs, to a vast room where the band were rehearsing, the room could easily accommodate a few hundred invited guests and potential fans, which is lucky really, as this basically what we ended up with. There we’re a couple of warm acts, but of no consequence, as we were all there for one reason, the headline act.
They didn’t disappoint on the night, and put on a good show for the meagre £3 entry fee, that also came with a copy of the EP.
The EP itself contains 8 songs, the last 3 being demo tracks, and we’ll start at the top, it opens with ‘Keep Swimming’ a great opening bass line and a sound reminiscent of the Libertines, the chilling style to vocals in the opening track are not going to win any lyrical genius awards, but what they do, is they allow you to focus much more on the guitar, drum and bass work on show, which is very strong on this opening track and help to set the bar.
Next up, is one of the stand out tracks from my first review back in October, ‘Michael’ which at the time I cited, doesn’t sound like the finished article, goes a lot of the way towards becoming it into in this latest offering. Everything just feels more together, I don’t know what attributes this change, whether it’s a change to the way the band play the song, or just that the band have grown into it the more they have played together, but either way, this would go a long way to winning over many many fans.
The next track on the EP is ‘Naivety and Optimism’ which although not to be written off musically, does not showcase the band as well as others, it again has a cracking tune to it, and runs from beginning to end in an absorbing fashion, but fails to build on the ground work set by the opening two tracks and more importantly by ‘Michael’ . This is a bit of a malaise shared with 4th track, ‘Life and death’ which like it’s predecessor, is fine, but just wouldn’t make it to a potential singles list.
This is broken by the fifth and final track on my review list ‘Ready to fall’ a quick change in lead vocals for this track see’s lead guitarist Louis step into the front man slot, and his voice excels, the lyrics are apt, and almost like the soundtrack to modern Britain, dealing with the youth of today and the recession in a jovial yet way yet with a serious undertone. Whilst the song is musically brilliant, managing to keep you interested all the way through.
My overall impression of this band, and of the EP are hardly what I’d call precise, I really like the band, they bring together the best bits of their peers, in a genre filled with big names, like Morrissey and the Libertines, whilst still managing to remain original, they evoke emotion whilst allowing you to take a backwards step from the music. A CD that everyone should listen to at least once, and one I’m going to be actively recommending to people who ask me about my current favourite music. Links to the side will let you buy this EP from iTunes or Amazon, but failing that, download Spotify and do your best, really, it’s worth your effort.
