Alt-indie
It's a telling sign when a new band namecheck another new band as key influences on their musical style; it's a bit like Emma Watson listing Daniel Radcliffe as her mentor. In any case, when alt-indie kids Science Vs. Romance state that Scottish newcomers Twin Atlantic have had a "closely penned" influence on their music, it hints at shallow creative depths. Life Through Your Eyes is certainly not a bad record; it is entirely listenable from start to finish, with a few peaks and even fewer troughs, yet it is underscored by a youthful naivety that instead of charming listeners simply sedates them into an amiable comfort rather than creating the angsty tension that such maudlin alt-indie music should evoke.
First track 'Out of Luck' has the right idea; a lush delay effect on the lead guitar introduces the song, before chopping at a fairly pedestrian verse which leads to a soaring chorus, with lead singer Matthew Vale, crooning, "All of my best friends, they're out of touch, and as much I hate to say, I'm out of luck." Unfortunately, both the lyrics and vocals seem a little rushed, as if they spent all their studio-time perfecting the wonderfully serene lead guitar tone that permeates each song and only had five minutes left on the clock, so Vale banged out a few hackneyed cliches wondering whether to, "cut my hair and get a job".
'Black Coffee' continues the trend of say-what-you-see lyrics, "Wake up, feel the coffee burn, these caffeine drinks are all I have," set to a backdrop of delicately picked guitar lines; the formulaic verse-chorus-verse pattern that each song follows does nothing to help the band's innovational aspirations. (Points for effort should go to Stuart Nicholls for fitting so many different guitar parts into the same 4 chord patterns.) The blend of major-key indie set to heartfelt lyrics may aim for such great heights as The Postal Service, but ends up more Plain White T's than Death Cab For Cutie.
'Standing in the Footsteps of Giants' sounds like a slightly mellowed Funeral for a Friend, circa-'Hours' era and is the EP's strongest track. It is slightly marred by an ill-judged a cappella mid-section, yet redeemed by a superb anti-chorus and engaging drum fills throughout. '1968' also shows promise, sporting a verbose yet infectious chorus line that sounds as if should be screamed by an emo-core band from Long Beach instead of an indie-rock band from Stourbridge.
It's not a bad effort for a young band, certainly impressive considering their short time span together; however, they've got a lot more work to do before they are named as a key influence by some other upcoming indie kids.