It’s hard enough to find one good singer for your band, but Press to Meco have somehow managed to secure three of them. Across ‘Good Intent’’s eleven tracks, the voices of guitarist Luke Caley, bassist Adam Roffey and drummer Lewis Williams weave together to create infectious three part harmonies that are not only sonically and technically impressive, but unique selling points that give the band a distinctive signature sound.

Behind the superb vocals is an instrumental backdrop of upbeat rhythms that enhance the catchy vocals, with plenty of meaty riffs to give a contrasting hard edge. ‘Manipulate’ contains the album’s most impressive guitar licks that show the band’s technical melodic side, before ‘Affinity’’s impromptu breakdown proves the band’s heavy credentials. This perfect balance between the melodic and the aggressive is a theme that runs throughout the album and shows that the band’s technical abilities stretch right through to instrumentation and songwriting as well as vocal prowess.

While the vocal harmonies definitely give Press to Meco a memorable sound, toward the latter stages of the record they show signs of becoming a potential crutch. The arrangements of the three-part harmonies start to seem familiar at the later stages, which takes some of the shine away from the effect. With ‘Good Intent’ being a debut record, the novelty and perfect delivery of the vocals is enough to stop this being an issue, however thinking forward to future records it would be good to hear the band using the triple vocal approach in different ways to keep this feeling unique and fresh.

Despite this minor quibble, ‘Good Intent’ is an excellent debut record that hits the sweet spot between heavy and melodic to offer a sound that’s as uniquely refreshing as it is catchy.

4/5

‘Good Intent’ by Press to Meco is released on 16th October on Best Before Records

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Words by Mark Johnson (@Testwood)