The biggest challenge for any new band is getting noticed, that first moment of infiltrating the public consciousness that may or may not lead to a widespread career. This is done in various different ways, most typically the advent of well-written affecting songs, or a gimmick to get noticed for all the wrong reasons.
And then there are some bands that have neither of these. Enter Colchester’s Brave Vultures and their debut EP ‘I’m Not Coming Back If You’re Not Here’, five tracks of melodic, singalong-friendly alt-rock that has absolutely zero originality or unique personality whatsoever. They largely feel like truncated versions of potentially good songs, smoothened and buffed and something fit for consumption rather than a true, honest artistic statement.
It’s not even that these songs are bad, though. They’re pleasant enough, well-written with some nice melodies, but they’re so utterly faceless that they could be by virtually any third-tier Brit-rock band going. The worst culprit is the white bread vacuum of ‘Safe Ground’, a track whose grand ambitions just end up feeling sickly and mawkish in the extreme.
By comparison, some tracks such as ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ have a bit more life to them are at least tolerable, but they feel so bland that any notable features dissipate on impact. Brave Vultures aren’t a bad band, and can write with some great melodic nuance. They just don’t seem to have quite grasped that a memorable instrumental is a factor as well.
2.5/5
‘I’m Not Coming Back If You’re Not Here’ by Brave Vultures is released on September 16th.
Brave Vultures links: Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp
Words by Luke Nuttall (@nuttall_luke)
