Rating: 7/10
By A J Salisbury
Beach Riot, Brighton-based purveyors of fuzz, self titled EP draws influences from grunge and rock for their sound thrown in with classic pop sensibilities from their catchy hooks and sing-a-long choruses.
The four-track EP, out on Vallance Records, is a swift 10-minute journey into Beach Riot’s sound. Lots of guitar noise, pounding drums, tight basslines and, at times, wonderfully harmonic and ethereal vocals.
‘Medicate for Success’, the EP’s opener, bursts into life with upbeat drums and a driving guitar riff, something akin to Eagles of Death Metal’s kitsch-rock, before coming to a massive crunchy wall of sound in the chorus.
Next comes ‘She’s a Hurricane’, originally released in 2017 as a single, it carries on the energetic nature of Beach Riot’s sound, there’s no hanging about for this four-piece, their tracks start with urgency and don’t let the tempo drop at all. During the middle eight, following a ‘Breed-esque’ drum fill, you’re hit with a ton of guitar noise and the bands claim to be drenched in fuzz is no a lie.
The vocals here remind me of something from catchy punk-rockers The Subways, with both male and female vocals meshing well to create a well woven sound whilst being backed by the rhythm section of Novoselic and Grohl in their Nirvana days.
Listen to ‘Good To Know (That I’m Still On Your Mind)’ here:
Track three, ‘Good To Know (That I’m Still on Your Mind)’, opens with that crunchy bass and hammering drums, so prevalent, but not unwelcome, across this release. The chorus, a Joshua Homme Them Crooked Vultures’ ‘Scumbag Blues’ style falsetto, is beautifully haunting and obviously referencing a call to a past flame who still thinks of an old love lost.
The EP’s closer, ‘Seismic Shift’, has a slightly different sound to the rest of the release. The verse is far more poppy and I get a very strong sense of Blur’s Graham Coxon and his solo material in both the musical style and lyrical content, along with it’s flow here. That’s not a bad thing at all, it shows that Beach Riot are versatile and flexible with their output. It still contains all the things that make their sound enjoyable, wailing guitars, drums that make you move and interlaced vocals that compliment the lyrics.
Any fans of rock or grunge should find this EP right up their street, it’s hard-hitting, musically tight, full of fuzzy noise and crunchy bass with well delivered lyrics that compliment the sound. I’d highly recommend checking it out and I’m patiently waiting for a full length release from these grungy fuzz rockers.
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