A high-profile support slot can be a godsend for any new band, something that Black Country quintet EofE know all too well, having spent Spring 2014 supporting McBusted across the UK’s arenas. Don’t let that fool you though – they’re not the bubblegum pop stars that fact may portray them as. Their self-titled debut is more than enough proof – eleven tracks of high-octane, uncomplicated to a fault Britrock.

There are a lot of the same genre hallmarks that have been adopted by many of their peers on this album – the unashamedly hook-stuffed ‘Save The Night’ and ‘Waiting For Olivia’ are pure ear candy – but for a good portion of the time, there’s a bit more bite to EofE. Opener ‘Get Caught’ takes almost as many cues from Bullet For My Valentine as it does from You Me At Six, and the production just feels that fair bit grittier than a lot of bands are willing to stretch to. They’re not huge changes by any means, but they make a difference, one that sees EofE taking all the right steps to becoming genuine contenders in their scene.

It goes without saying (and indeed, may have been fathomed out already given the previous descriptions) that songwriting-wise, ‘EofE’ does hit a groove as it progresses. It’s not necessarily bad, but it feels slightly unimaginative at times, with the likes of ‘Only Get Better’ coming across as an amalgam of a handful of bands who have been doing this style a lot longer.

It does a disservice to the album as a whole, as EofE’s debut is one of the most assured, confident first efforts you’re likely to hear this year, even if you feel you have heard it before. You probably will have to be honest – original and genre-defining it is not, but give them a few years and a couple more albums down the line and they could be returning to arenas, this time in the headline slot.

3.5/5

‘EofE’ by EofE is released on 9th October on Cream Records.

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Words by Luke Nuttall(@nuttall_luke)