{"id":7304,"date":"2015-10-05T10:07:15","date_gmt":"2015-10-05T10:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-ui-merci-ep\/"},"modified":"2025-08-31T21:56:35","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T20:56:35","slug":"album-review-ui-merci-ep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-ui-merci-ep\/","title":{"rendered":"Review:\u00a0&U&I – Merci EP"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image\"Even with their headline appearance at this year\u2019s Off The Cuff falling through after the festival\u2019s cancellation, it feels like Birmingham\u2019s own &U&I<\/b> have been everywhere we\u2019ve turned this year. It\u2019s remarkable considering that the band haven\u2019t actually been too busy in 2015 as far as live shows go, but sets at the latest Great Escape and 2000 Trees festivals have certainly stuck out as highlights of another frantic summer. The relative respite since then has been for good reason, and the release of the \u2018Merci\u2019<\/i> EP should be a welcome payoff. It\u2019s the band\u2019s first release as part of the Robot Needs Home family \u2013 alongside the likes of all the talent you could expect on a label founded by Maybeshewill \u2013 and it\u2019s hard to imagine that the newfound company doesn\u2019t come with a bit of added pressure. The trio are no strangers to such things however, whether as &U&I<\/b> or back in their Blakfish days, so even before the first note is heard, it\u2019s hard not to get excited for what the EP has in store.<\/p>\n

\u2019The Wooden Box\u2019<\/i> saunters into life with the exact same combination of riffs and attitude that had us falling for the trio so quickly in the past. Vocally, it\u2019s one of the band\u2019s best offerings yet; even at twenty past three in the morning it\u2019s hard not to get caught up in the refrain, shouting along with each \u201cI am happier than I have ever been\u201d<\/i>. The EP\u2019s lead single \u2018The Stamp\u2019<\/i> surfaced back in April, quite possibly boasting the best music video of the year. Almost echoing the puppetry at work in that very video, they\u2019ve got us hanging on every note from the start, and the post-hardcore frenzy doesn\u2019t let off as we hit the title track. The reign of \u2018The Wooden Box\u2019<\/i> as Thom Peckett\u2019s best vocal performance to date lasted approximately five minutes before \u2018Merci\u2019<\/i> reared its head, and it\u2019s hard to imagine anything toppling this one quite so quickly. While \u2018The Artist\u2019<\/i> does fantastically on an instrumental level of carrying the EP to its conclusion, the title track of \u2018Merci\u2019<\/i>\u2019 is undoubtedly its highlight as well.<\/p>\n

&U&I<\/b> in just four tracks have fired themselves right back into the foreground of the British post-hardcore scene, and it\u2019s clear where they\u2019re more at home. The ex-Blakfish men just aren\u2019t the type to hang around on the periphery, and the determination to enter 2016 on a high is palpable across all of the ‘Merci\u2019<\/i> EP. We\u2019re getting to the point in the year now where more and more bands are starting to really hit their rhythm, be it with studio releases, live showings or both. With the release of ‘Merci\u2019<\/i> and a return to the stage just around the corner, October is looking like the time where &U&I set the bar.<\/p>\n

4\/5<\/p>\n

‘Merci\u2019<\/em> EP by &U&I<\/strong> is out now on Robot Needs Home<\/strong><\/p>\n

&U&I<\/strong> links: Website<\/a>|Facebook<\/a>|Twitter<\/a>|Bandcamp<\/a><\/p>\n

Words by Antony Lusmore (@VilinskiKonjic<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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