Compared to names such as Jimmy Eat World and The Get Up Kids, German four-piece Cadet Carter certainly have created intrigue. Starting out in the summer of 2017, they have wasted no time in piecing together what has been become this debut full-length. This LP declares to take you on a journey: “for 36 minutes, you’re in a different place”, lead singer Nick Sauter explains. Yet, they don’t quite fulfil on that promise.

While ‘Cadet Carter’ is a cohesive album, it can get monotonous in places. ‘Settle Me Down’ couldn’t sound more like a Paramore tribute, and ‘Indiscreet Romance’ disappointingly falls short after a promising bright intro. Although proceeding this, the acoustic love song, ‘Don’t Fail Me’ provides a nice change of pace.

Where ‘Cadet Carter’ lack in musical diversity, they make up for it with a faultless guitar tone and a couple of noteworthy songs. The bouncy ‘Car Park Song’ bursts in with distorted gang vocals and a crisp snare, with all the energy you want and expect from a summery pop-punk track. ‘Loose End’ is loud, catchy with Sauter’s vocals reminiscent of a young Dave Grohl.

Cadet Carter know how to write a great hook, and musically, this album has so much potential. However, less-than-dynamic tracks such as ‘Demons’ make it hard to say this is a particularly interesting record. Hypothetically, Cadet Carter do show plenty of promise, but it just missed the mark on its execution.

Whilst they aren’t doing anything new or innovative, who’s to say they must if they do it well? For a young and upcoming band, this album is a well-rounded jumping off point for the quartet “starting all over”. Despite establishing themselves in their local scene, it’d still be nice to see what’s to come from Cadet Carter. Hopefully with more time, they’ll mature and vary their sound a little more.

3/5

‘Cadet Carter’ by Cadet Carter is out now on Uncle M Music.

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Words by Selina Payandee (@nekdep)