Singles

Evolvers - Bullets / Midnight Song

Angus Reid 07/02/2008

Rating: 2/5

It's a curse sometimes this reviewing lark. Every now and then a band will come along that's relatively new, and still unsigned, and you don't want to be nasty because, well, they're just starting out and they don't have the benefit of wads of cash (though this could probably be said of various EMI artists soon) and aeons to fine tune their sound. But, surely you must know if something's distinctly average? Well, apparently not.

Evolvers are a Welsh rock band in the vein of Towers of London, the Hollyoaks theme tune and Feeder. They have big loud guitars, gravely vocals and powerful drums. The production on these two songs is actually fantastic, and really well suited to the songs, something of a rarity in the unsigned world - everything is crisp, clear and well balanced for once. Second track 'Midnight Song' has some lovely chiming guitars that come in about halfway through, giving a bit of space to the proceedings, and a gentle alternative to the all out roar of first track 'Bullets.'

The trouble here is that despite decent production, everything is a little obvious. The guitar solos hark back to the time of white jeans and big hair, the choruses are an exercise in underachieving Britpop nostalgia and the melodies are all over familiar. There really is no special element to lift this material out of the crowd, no spark of passion, no surge of excitement. And the voice really starts to grate after a while. Though not completely without hope (every band has at least one 'hit' in them), Evolvers could perhaps take a hint from the moniker they've chosen for themselves and actually evolve their sound beyond 1996 and find what really makes them have to play, instead of merely want to.