After enjoying Braxton Hicks’ performance at The North, I simply had to pick up their latest release, The Bench EP. Priced at a very reasonable £2, meaning you’re only paying 50p per song, so you really are getting a lot for your money. Admittedly, this CD doesn’t quite capture the energy and enthusiasm that this band showed in a live environment, but it is a good and solid mix of songs.
Opening track Gone Fishin’ is a poignant tribute to their friend Johnny Williams, who the EP is dedicated to the memory of. The song is a little repetitive in parts, but the lyrics are beautiful and you can really tell they were written from the heart. It then leads well into the second track, Poison By Rancid. It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of short songs, and this is just that – at just over one and a half minutes long, it’s a perfectly punctuated and frantic song that hits hard and fast.
Third track This Song Was Never Written isn’t one of the more standout songs. Whilst it is a good track, it almost feels a little like a mixture of the other three tracks, so it subsequently blended into the background a little, which was a shame. Closing track Depressing/Scream It Out finishes things on a high, however. A catchy little number, it had my foot tapping along from start to finish, and the way the song ends with only vocals was a nice touch.
Overall, The Bench EP is a pretty good release that is full of potential. If you like your punk, you’ll love this, but don’t go in expecting anything completely different.
7/10
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New Music: Braxton Hicks – The Bench EP
Yeah, I know, you’ve heard the name. I’m not saying we don’t have history, or at least I don’t have history with Braxton Hicks. I’ve known lead singer Joe Hovis (think about it) for years, and recently he agreed to be our man looking after punk (and maybe even hardcore) for Backseat Mafia. But this is no kiss-ass payment for future services rendered. I was going to give Braxton Hicks a look in anyway.
Coming up to being a year old (Joe having put an advert out in July 2012) the North Wales three-piece, Joe being joined by Neil Crud (ex-Sons of Selina) on bass and drummer Gwion, have been out and about all over north wales and beyond honing their skills, and playing with legends such as UK Subs and Goldblade along the way.
Following on from their debut ep ‘The Bench’ comes recently released ‘The Bench’ EP, which came out on the Link2Wales label. Opening track Gone Fishin’ is instantly reminiscent of the DIY classic punk groups from the beginning of Punk, almost TV Personalities in its charm, although the shadow of NoFX and indeed the UK Subs, as well as the ghost of Welsh punk of the past (Anhrefn et al)
Second track on the EP is a case in point, the song being Poison by Rancid. No, not a cover – more a eulogy to that song, Hovis saying ‘makes me glad I don’t waste any more years / on you scumbags I thought we were close / Poison by Rancid just sums it all up’. It’s shows that Hovis’ voice can change gear to all sneering, grating punk front man, and the band add an appropriately enthusiastic racket (and I mean that in a good way) underneath.
This Song was never written carries on at a furious pace, this punk esthetic not getting in the way of what are actually deeply personal lyrics ‘I’ve never written a love song and this one won’t be the first’ sings Hovis, before taking us around the houses of saying just about everything but the dreaded ‘L’ word. The music, though simple, drives on, its catchiness taking the listen along with it for the ride.
The final track on the ep is ‘Depression / Scream it out’, revisiting theme’s that appeared in the first ep as well. It’s classic punk riffs mean that you can almost guess what is coming, but it’s the personal (or at least Hovis putting himself in the state of mind) lyrics ‘Depression breaks inside of me / I wanna sleep 20 hours a day / Can’t bring myself to shower or shave / and I feel nothing when I see a woman’s body’ sings Hovis. Although the track is short, in true punk style, for us its the strongest and most musically ambitious track on the ep.
Yeah, its straight up punk, classic style, which we’ve all heard before. But its catchy, interesting and what sets it apart is Hovis himself, his persona and particularly lyrically, stretching his band beyond the usual punk subject matter. Buy it, yes kiss ass? Well, not yet.
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