Once over the shock of Rieser not being a punk band, it slowly starts to dawn that regardless, this was a quality EP.
(I think just a combination of the band name and EP title gave rise to my misplaced expectations.)
It’s certainly not what I’d have top of my personal preferences on my iPod, but credit where it’s due, these four lads from Edinburgh have produced four really polished ‘Alternative Rock’ tracks.
Title track ‘Drinking Den,’ starts out with vague echoes of The Stone Roses, but soon develops into a more languid track with the crystal clear vocals delivered in a style that encompasses both Classic Rock and Folk. Throughout, there is a lovely piece of guitar floating around just away from the surface and the song’s mid- tempo gives room for the deep rolling drums to pound out their authority and dictate the pace.
‘The Actor’ for me is a stronger track. It stomps along with a steely determination –a song that seems to know where it’s going and nothing’s going to stop it getting there as it builds to a rousing conclusion. The vocals are lighter and softer, but still so clear, and again the guitar licks are not quite thrown in the listener’s face but still make their playful presence felt in a more understated manner.
‘Call Me Round’ has the potential of becoming a bit of a four and a half minute epic. As the song rises and falls at various stages, the listener is treated to the quiet assuredness of the guitars and drums, whilst tucked away in the dark background there is a kind of droned bass / guitar thing going on. It’s sort of Oasis meets The Stone Roses meets Idlewild meets Nickelback!
‘The Ringmaster’ is probably the most aggressive sounding of the four tracks though this is cleverly softened somewhat by the insertion of the ‘clown theme’ at various points. More scope is given on this track to the guitar work and the track even breaks down interestingly for a short reggae burst! There is a lot crammed into these very inventive three and a half minutes, which is why this is my favourite of the four tracks on offer.
Yeah – when all’s said and done and you actually ‘listen’ to this EP, there is no denying the quality – even a musical philistine punk like me can hear that!
