Brought together by boredom and a mutual love of caffeinated alcoholic beverages, Salisbury trio The Sour Taste have been honing their brand of punk rock for the best part of two years. This Friday, they are releasing their second EP, ‘Heartsinker’. However, Already Heard is premiering the EP in full!
Offering four slices of straight up melodic punk rock, ‘Heartsinker’ echoes the sound of Gnarwolves and Creeper’s early material with its roots firmly in 90’s punk. Songs such as ‘Broken Head, Broken Mind’ and ‘Am I Dead?’ thrive on raw guitars, a punchy rhythm section and the occasional “woah”. While its title track carries itself with a subtle big chorus.
To find out more about The Sour Taste’s backstory, we spoke to guitarist/vocalist Sam McCauley.
AH: Hey TST. Can you tell us what’s the story so far with you guys?
Sam: So we’ve been throwing ourselves at the DIY music scene for a couple of years now, and have been overwhelmed with the response we are getting from intimate headline shows or supporting bands from home and across the pond such as Great Cynics, Allusondrugs, The Sidekicks, Grenadiers. We suddenly found ourselves fuelled and influenced by these shows and released our debut EP and began to steer towards being more relentless and upbeat and bringing the punk rock aspect forward.
AH: ‘Heartsinker’ is your second EP and follows last year’s ‘Soak It Up And Start Again’ EP. How has the band’s sound developed on this release?
Sam: As a song writer I used to be fairly reserved with my feelings and I limited my influences which really held me back, but now I’m over it and I feel that it’s helped us develop our sound further. I would say this release is more of a mature strong Stilton rather than a tasteless soggy cheddar.
AH: You worked with producer Bob Cooper (Kamikaze Girls, Nervus, Anna’s Anchor) on ‘Heartsinker’. What did Bob add to the four songs?
Sam:
So this was the first time working with him and we went into the studio knowing Bob was the man for the job. We all had slightly different ideas of how we wanted it to sound, but Bob channelled all our ideas and helped us achieve some tasty punk rock. Collectively, every talent he has was thrown into the mix to keep the power chords driven and the drums punchy.
AH: The band’s sound certainly lives in the punk spectrum. Who would you consider your main influences are?
Sam: We all listen to a bunch of different bands that influence us. I’m heavily influenced by the likes of Alkaline Trio, The Lawrence Arms, Jimmy Eat World for their hooky choruses. While you can’t hear it directly in our music, we all spin heavier music from hardcore punk to “riffalicious” metal.
AH: Why should AH readers check out ‘Heartsinker’ on September 15th?
Sam: Well, there is nothing on the EP that mirrors any specific band/recent release within that last couple of years. I would like to think it’s there to fill someone’s void or perhaps for those people that enjoy anything punk rock 90’s with angry/sad relatable lyrics? I’m very modest when it comes to convincing people to listen to our music. We are proud to finally put it out and let’s hope it sits well with everyone’s ear canals!
‘Heartsinker’ EP by The Sour Taste is released on 15th September on Speaking Tongues.
The Sour Taste links: Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp
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