Cumbria based pop rockers Colt 45 have returned with their second EP ‘Inside The Triangle’, a blend of punk rock guitars, hook laden choruses smothered in a casing of pop appeal. For anyone into pop rock this is a decent release to have in your collection; it is a brilliantly produced EP, the mix is perfect, everything can be heard clearly and nothing if overpowering another component.

Each title comes across as very melancholy; with titles like ‘Everybody Will Let You Down’ and ‘I’m Drowning, Not Waving’. It could be hard to imagine how these translate into the description above, I assure you it does, surprisingly.

The introduction ‘Think For Yourself… Question Authority’  is an instrumental with a sample of a male voice speaking underneath. Truthfully I don’t find it completely necessary on this release; in a live situation it would be perfect but it just doesn’t give the release that strong start and doesn’t feel like it flows, it is seemingly quite stagnant from the rest of the songs.

If ‘Everybody Will Let You Down’ was the opening track then we would be introduced to Colt 45’s upbeat pop rock sound a lot sooner. With it’s straight up punk rock riff which may I add is catchy as hell and the vocal line of the chorus following the same rhythmic pattern it is a bombardment of hooky pop rock. In a similar vain ‘Happiness Is a Dying Art’ follows a similar formula, strong riff based opening followed by a verse, then the catchy chorus, verse, middle and chorus. It is a basic and common writing structure but they use it well and are knocking out tune after tune.

‘I’m Drowning Not Waving’ is again got that now familiar hook that comes with this band’s songs, but it is a sombre sound in comparison to the previous tracks, more mellow and chilled out it produces a nice break between the two tracks. Final track closes the album on a stronger note than the intro and returns to that heavier punk rock sound familiar in the previous tracks.

Although formulaic in their sound Colt 45 have here an EP which is appealing to fans of heavy weights like Rise Against, The Offspring and bands of a similar vain. It is spectacularly produced  and like I said for anyone into catchy pop rock this is a great release to have in your collection.

3/5

‘Inside The Triangle’ by Colt 45 is out now.

Colt 45 links: Website|Facebook|Twitter

Words by Robert Madisson (@bertmadisson)