Banquets burst onto the scene two years ago with their excellent debut album ‘Top Button, Bottom Shelf’ and their instantly likeable brand of pop-punk took me a little by surprise. I’d grown jaded of hearing the same types of bands churning out the same type of material but this felt fresh, fast and fun again. As a result I’d really anticipated the follow up, ‘Banquets’, and had hoped that it would be the album of my summer.
‘Little Shallow’ is a fairly low key start to the album in truth – it’s solid but predictable, and that really sets the tone of the album. ‘Big Big Waves’ continues in the same vein too. It’s easy to listen to, perfectly inoffensive, modern pop-punk that gets you tapping your foot. Fortunately the band up their game a little by the time we hit ‘Call It A Comeback’ which, whether they meant to or not, is as close to the material on their debut album as we can hope for. It’s the excellent vocal melodies and soaring guitar riffs that had me hitting repeat previously.
<a href=“http://blacknumbers.bandcamp.com/album/banquets” data-mce-href=“http://blacknumbers.bandcamp.com/album/banquets”>Banquets by Banquets</a>
From there the album does have plenty of merit, in particular the instrumental opening to ‘March 19th’ the Over It inspired fast skate punk vibe to ‘Stars and Stops’ and the big guitar riff that opens ‘The Flicker And The Flame’. These tracks are certainly enough to win the band new fans and hopefully see them return to Europe sooner, especially with the help of the folk at Disconnect Disconnect.
I like Banquets, I really do… and I’d love to give ‘Banquets’ a glowing review here. I just can’t shake the feeling that I’ve heard this all before though and I don’t really get that sense of progression that I was hoping for. It’s very reminiscent of some of the earlier Hit The Lights tracks but often without that huge chorus or that sense of frenzied excitement.
‘Banquets’ is a good record by a creditable band…but for me it’s ultimately disappointing when compared to ‘Top Button, Bottom Shelf’.
3/5
‘Banquets’ by Banquets is out now on Disconnect Disconnect Records.
Banquets links: Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp
Words by Tom Beck (@HeyMercedes)
