Demos

Sub Rosa - Tea for a Viper

Kev Eddy 03/07/2006

Rating: 2/5

It's all very well a band wearing their influences on their sleeves. It's not a bad thing - if anything, it's a damn good way to let your listener know if they're going to like you very quickly. However, practically throwing your influences into your face is a little excessive.

'Tea for a Viper', the title track from this four-song EP, is The Music. The second song, 'Never Before' is Interpol. It's at this point that you start to wonder whether this is just another one of those bands who change their song every six months, and just haven't done it very well this time around.

But then you hear something else. You hear seagulls. Yes, seagulls. 'One Age Paradise' is a revelation. It has individuality. It has quirkiness. It has - say it quietly - promise. It makes you wonder - could this band move onto better things. What will track four be like? Will it be apotheosis?

No. Unfortunately, it's filler. However, it's filler done well enough to suggest the Sub Rosa may indeed move onto much better and more interesting things. A flawed, yet still promising debut.

www.myspace.com/wearesubrosa