Shades of the past
Debut single from Eastbourne based trio, due for release in November to coincide with their headline tour, fast work for a band only formed in February of 2005!
Opening track 'Bang Bang' at first impression is a fairly light affair with jangly guitars, clean vocals and even some hand claps. It picks up with the chorus, which injects some life and is followed by some unusual music breaks that give it a psychedelic flavour. It takes a good few listens to really get into 'Bang Bang', mainly because it dips into several different styles meaning that you don't get what you expect from the first verses. After a few listens though it does start to grow and ultimately you find yourself wishing it went on for longer (although it's already nearly three and a half minutes) just to see where the band would take it next!
Double A – side 'Life Without Balloons', whilst sounding completely different to begin with soon branches out into discordant guitars. Not as likeable as 'Bang Bang' it has more of an early 80's sound with perhaps a touch of the darker side of Joy Division. The chorus pulls the track up, the verse on this one being a little standard, in so much that it has a simple structure and doesn't really excite. Once again it takes a couple of listens to appreciate fully and it does have an engaging rather hypnotic beat running through it.
All in all an interesting debut for The Late Greats that hints at plenty more to come, I look forward to hearing a ten minute opus on their debut album!