Manchester’s Tirade are on the up-and-up at the moment, releasing their debut self-titled EP at the end of the month and being played on Kerrang! Radio. Their sound takes its cues from the heavy math-rock instrumentation and pop melody combination of bands like Press to MECO and tour mates We Are Carnivores.

Tirade, overall, stay on the poppier side of things, at times sounding like a pop-punk band. This is especially prominent on the opening two tracks, ‘Snakes and Social Ladders’ and ‘Punch’, while later tracks like ‘We’re Having Fun’ add more polyrhythmic elements without sacrificing hooks.

The combination of pop elements with heavier, more complex instrumentation is not entirely new, but it’s done in a way that and sounds individual enough. In addition, Tirade impressively manage to keep things consistently upbeat while still retaining a certain musicality throughout the EP.

The poppier elements of Tirade’s sound give it fun and energy, which makes up for what is a generally repetitive release. This is the main problem with Tirade’s debut EP: for all the enjoyment one can have listening to it, things become tedious after a while. There’s not much done throughout the EP to build on the band’s basic sound, beyond certain tracks being more technical than others.

The only real stand-out is ‘Optimism’, which shows off frontman Jake Tilley’s vocals in a rather impressive way and is more emotive than some of the more carefree tracks on this EP. The instrumentation on ‘Optimism’ features more jangling guitars and takes a step back from heaviness, without sacrificing complexity.

Despite its repetitiveness, Tirade’s debut is still an enjoyable listen which shows potential. The criticisms that have been offered here will likely become moot by the time they release a full-length if they’re simply able to improve their songwriting skills.

3/5

‘Tirade EP’ by Tirade is released on November 25th .

Tirade links: Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp

Words by Alan Cunningham (funeral_polis)