Review of 'What a Disappointment' by Ryan Holmes
The world of Pop Punk is a rather stagnant one at the best of times. It seems Drive-Thru Records is intent on signing 500 acts a day, all with the same spiky haired young spike-haired upstarts playing the same 4 chord riffs and catchy little tunes. An on saying that, with this EP, Mellow Dramatic could very well have been little pogo-popping stars by now.
This is the second recording from what is still a very young group and in a strange way is an advancement from their first EP, the stupidly titled, "EP". That said though, in another strange way, it isn't.
EP opener, "Out Of Step, Out Of Mind opens with an annoyingly catchy lead riff. Perhaps the kind of style that would be familiar to other local band and everyone's best mate, P45. Shay's voice had improved noticeably by this point and carries the tune off with his own little style, but where's the chorus?
The next track is "Window Pain". Another little lead riff takes into a nice little song, one of the stronger on the EP and the boys were even generous enough to include a chorus for us. Definitely one of Mellow Dramatic's best.
Next up we have "I won't wait", nice little fast verses on this one and a very cool instrumental break. Though by this point, the formula was getting a little tiring�
�which brings us nicely on to the next track, "Nothing's Perfect", the reggae one. Not a style I can say I'm particularly keen on. The break at the end is good, if a little heavily "inspired" by Blink 182.
Next up is "Breakdown", my favourite on the record. This song just all comes together, it's about politics I guess, one of James's favourite topics and Shay's vocals work brilliantly around the ringing out chords. It is also one of three tracks on this record to end around the 2 min 40 mark. Radio friendly for sure.
Next is an instrumental. It's ok.
So in conclusion, I reckon if the guys had have worked a little more on making the songs sound a little more different from each other, this would have been a great record. As it is, it is merely a good one.
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