The first word that came to mind on the initial play of this six-track EP by London based four-piece, was…. ‘Soundgarden.’ (Not that I would count myself anything of an expert on the music of that particular band, but I was however pleased to read later that We The Faceless do count them as an ‘influence.’)
The second word that came to mind – this was on the third play because for a while I was quite lost for words! – was ‘superb.’
Billed as exponents of ‘New Grunge,’ We The Faceless do exactly as it says on the label. And boy, do they do it well?! The EP opens with ‘Firefly,’ which in my opinion is not the strongest of the six. So if you enjoy this, then you’ll feel like a ‘pig in shit’ for the following fifteen minutes. ‘Firefly’ is a raucous opener, with fuzzy guitars and pounding drums. The vocals are strong and powerful, though it does seem as though something is being held back for later. I’ll probably get pelters for this, but the vocals have that sort of loud, slightly husky, kind of polite growl sound to them – akin to Chad Kroeger of Nickelback.
‘Burn The Witch’ is a terrific track – the best on the EP. Mid-paced, it features a hardcore scream type chorus, with the verses played over a droned backing.
‘My Girl’ is interesting in that the backing is more fast and frantic than the vocals, which are again mid-paced. There’s a heavy bass influence here – almost like a ‘slap’ bass, where the tension of the strings has been loosened some.
‘Taxi Driver’ at just short of four minutes is the longest track of the six. There are shades of Foo Fighters here, but also some Classic Rock styled guitar riffs and effects.
‘Yellow House’ is the almost obligatory slow paced ‘rock ballad,’ track. It is quite a contrast to say, ‘Burn The Witch’ with a string section being added to soften the tone. The vocals are pared back, more subtle and melodic. This is just the perfect song, I’d say, to introduce We The Faceless to the American market. It’s most certainly a regional-radio friendly song.
‘Franco’s Parrot’ returns to the faster pace but this time there is a more sinister and threatening feel to the song that again features hardcore styled screams and shouts.
That such a full and exciting sound can be generated by only three basic instruments and a vocalist is testimony to a powerful and inventive band that we should be hearing a lot more of in 2009.