The band’s efforts are well noted, capturing both the band’s talent and ambition in just 2 tracks that ultimately carried them into the anticipation for their debut EP’s release.
Keaton’s vulnerable lyrics paired with Moore’s pop-influenced basslines and layered with Marble and Kidd’s intricately emotive guitar melodies makes for a brilliant debut effort that is equally romantic and ambitious.
It’s something interesting to follow a band from their initial demos to being one of the biggest bands in the scene and only generating a bigger and bigger fan base.
While a first listen could lead some to dismiss the band entirely based on the reliance of lead singer Dave Stephens’s unclean vocal performance, the lyrics carve a deeper connection, saying more than apathetic iterations of youth and delving into ideas such as existence, philosophy, relationships and other grand themes of life.
Alive in Standby takes the pain in stride, crafting an EP that is a balance of electronic pop, aggressive metalcore with a touch of sensual R&B that can be for your first time metalcore listener, or a long established fan.
"Translating the Name” is a fast paced explosion that is an abstract take on the turmoils of everyday “growing pains” and aggressively ponders existence in order to understand the strife of life.
Hands Like Houses use melody, aggression and sensual emotion to build a musical world that ensnares the listener and holds their attention for the full album.
If a band was to give as little effort as possible, go into a recording studio and write the simplest pop rock songs ever, it would result in this album, a couple beats short of a Maroon 5 album.