When a band is laid to rest, it’s easy for the members who still have the craving to create music to jump straight into a new project that sounds exactly the same as their previous one but with a different set of clothes on. So when Sheffield mosh lords Dead Harts called time on their raucous career last year, many would assume the members would just kick off again with another barrage of filthy hardcore riffing. Yet as The Family proves on their debut EP, you’d be dead wrong and more than anything pleasantly surprised.
In terms of sound and style, ‘Welcome To The Family’ owes a lot to the early years and attitude of grunge. Don’t expect a carbon copy of what has been reproduced again and again though. What The Family have produced is a thoroughly modern and exciting take on rough and ready guitar music that will please the purists as much as the new age passionistas.
‘My Kinda Scum’ builds and builds into a real earworm of a crescendo while the relatable aggression of ‘Radio Headphones’ gets the feet tapping with its perfect mix of fuzz and fury. The lessons picked up from their previous endeavours shines through in the quality of the songwriting on show and makes for an easily accessible and thoroughly memorable shot of heaviness.
‘Welcome To The Family’ is a breath of fresh air in a style that can often sound dated and dusty. Injecting the energy that held their previous band together into songs that sound as familiarly fuzzy, as they do shiny and exciting. This feels like The Family are just scratching the surface of something much bigger. Keep one eye open for this lot, they’ll be all over you like a rash very soon.
4/5
‘Welcome To The Family’ EP by The Family is released on 19th May.
The Family links: Website|Facebook|Twitter|Instagram
Words by Jack Rogers (@JackMRog)
