Demos

The Carletons - EP2

Owain Paciuszko 14/07/2009

Rating: 3/5

This new EP from Preston-based quartet channels a spot of Kasabian in its opening track Out of Control and manages - in amongst it's slightly ropey chorus - to be inventive and energetic, with rolling drums and growling guitar. On To A Winner meanwhile has a cocky, swaggering guitar line that sits nicely with singer Alex Mckay's defiant vocals. A neat bassy breakdown near the end emphasizes their improving sense of song craft from earlier efforts, which fell back on too many indie-pop cliches.

Unfortunately Tiny Little Problem does wave the flag for the Arctic Monkeys-isms that tarnished their earlier EP this year. They do manage to offer some respite to this in the song's slower segments, but continually stumble back into all the rapid-fire guitar, pacy drums and barked vocal tricks that became hackneyed a couple of years ago.

The Carletones are a young band and are developing considerably with each subsequent release, gradually shaking off the shackles that might tether similarly youthful acts down. They haven't quite found something to truly set them apart yet, but could well be on their way to getting some major attention.