It’s hard to believe that ‘Last Night’s Hero’ is a debut album; the band sound as if they were born with instruments in their hands!
‘Last Night’s Hero’ is the debut album from pop-punk band Eighth Wave, made up of lead singer and guitarist Si Roddam, drummer and backing vocalist Chris Wainwright, lead guitarist Scott Steele and Matt Ashton on bass guitar. The band’s name comes from Si Roddam’s days spent at the beach with his dad when he was a child counting the waves to see which was the biggest; it was always the eighth, apparently...! The album, which is bursting with catchy, exciting tunes, was recorded with help from top producers Andy Giblin (Profane, Slipknot) and Steve Rushton (former Son of Dork co-front man).
It’s hard to believe that ‘Last Night’s Hero’ is a debut album; the band sound as if they were born with instruments in their hands! There are no bad songs on the CD, each having its own sound, which kept me interested from start to finish. The best track on the album is definitely ‘24/seven’, an upbeat song, ending with a rocking guitar riff that will get listeners jumping! This is closely followed by ‘Till we die’, an emotional song that starts calmly, eventually building into a great tune with a chorus that will stick in your mind long after the song has finished!
The inclusion of the acoustic version of ‘Incomplete’ as a bonus track was pure genius. In contrast to the full version of the song at track 5, Eighth Wave are stripped right down, showing listeners exactly what they are capable of. Special mention should also be made of track 9, ‘Waiting for Tomorrow’, which has beautiful vocal harmonies and a stunning piano backing melody.
Although Eighth Wave’s album is light-hearted and fun, it does unfortunately lack originality. The lads’ pop-rock and mainstream influences are obvious from the very start of the album; this does not detract from the quality of the songs, but it is disappointing nonetheless that nothing new has been brought to an already predictable genre. Here’s hoping the band’s sound evolves to something more original in the future as I predict that they could be around for some time! With support slots for pop-rock favourites Go:Audio and Elliott Minor under their belts, plus their own tour taking place in the autumn, Eighth Wave are fast establishing themselves as “ones to watch”. They could be huge!
‘Last Night’s Hero’ will be released in the UK on 27th July 2009; although fans of pop-rock will love this album, more generic rock fans may find the lack of original material slightly off-putting which is only to their loss; Eighth Wave are incredibly talented and have huge potential, the future looks bright!
Watch this space!