{"id":77702,"date":"2019-03-29T13:00:16","date_gmt":"2019-03-29T13:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=77702"},"modified":"2023-04-07T14:23:45","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T13:23:45","slug":"review-simple-creatures-strange-love-ep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-simple-creatures-strange-love-ep\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Simple Creatures &#8211; Strange Love EP"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-77705\" src=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/796015-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Simple Creatures \u2013 Strange Love EP\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/796015-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/796015-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/796015-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/796015-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/796015-30x30.jpg 30w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/796015-465x465.jpg 465w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/796015-500x500.jpg 500w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/796015-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/796015-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/796015.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>The prospect of blink-182&#8217;s Mark Hoppus and All Time Low&#8217;s Alex Gaskarth working together is an exciting one, at least on paper. After all, both of their bands have become influential within the pop-punk scene, with even the latter picking up the mantle from the former. Nevertheless, their pairing under the moniker of <b>Simple Creatures<\/b> isn&#8217;t quite the pop-punk &#8220;supergroup&#8221; some may have expected. Admittedly, their debut outing, <i>&#8216;Strange Love&#8217;<\/i>, has commonplace traits of many side-projects. Although it&#8217;s not one to be dismissed.<\/p>\n<p>Their take on dark synth-pop is admirable with <i>&#8216;Drug&#8217;<\/i> starting off proceedings strongly. Playful <i>&#8220;nah-nahs&#8221;<\/i> fool you before the pair sing about being disillusioned and <i>&#8220;stumbling off the rails&#8221;<\/i>. It&#8217;s an ideal introduction which bridges both of their other bands.<\/p>\n<p>As duel vocalists, it&#8217;s no surprise Gaskarth as the one who carries the hooks. For example, <i>&#8216;Strange Love&#8217;<\/i> sees Hoppus sing the monotone verses before Gaskarth&#8217;s smooth and catchy lead in the chorus. It&#8217;s a welcomed contrast between the pairing.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Simple Creatures - Strange Love (Official Video)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jAGuAFzicm0?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The atmospheric midway point, <i>&#8216;How To Live&#8217;<\/i>, brings the tone down with its scarce tempo that never really grabs your attention. Thankfully, <i>&#8216;Adrenaline&#8217;<\/i> puts things back on track. The Gaskarth-led number is carried with driving guitars and a thick, post-punk bass line, making it one of the more notable tracks on here.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the momentum isn&#8217;t sustained as <i>&#8216;Ether&#8217;<\/i> is another piece of brooding electronic ambience that horribly rhymes <em>&#8220;ether&#8221;<\/em> with <em>&#8220;either&#8221;. <\/em>Although it shows a willingness to add musical depth, it&#8217;s perhaps the most forgettable song on here. Much like <i>&#8216;Adrenaline&#8217;<\/i>, <b>Simple Creatures<\/b> soon turn things around as\u00a0<i>&#8216;Lucy&#8217;<\/i> offers an appreciative closer with distant reverb guitars, punchy drums and Gaskarth&#8217;s <em>&#8220;ooh&#8221;<\/em>&#8216;s contributing to an upbeat finale. Again, the dual vocal work is executed nicely and is well-balanced.<\/p>\n<p>By combining their pop sensibilities with stylistic exploration, <strong>Simple Creatures<\/strong> have produced a commendable first outing. With a second EP already in the works, it&#8217;s clear they&#8217;re only just scratching the surface.<\/p>\n<p>3\/5<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8216;Strange Love&#8217;<\/em> EP by <strong>Simple Creatures<\/strong> is out now on <strong>BMG<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Simple Creatures\u00a0<\/strong>links: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.simplecreaturesmusic.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SimpleCreaturesMusic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/simplecreatures\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/simplecreatures\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by S\u00eaan Reid (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SeanReid86\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@SeanReid86<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;By combining their pop sensibilities with stylistic exploration, Simple Creatures have produced a commendable first outing.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,2269],"tags":[1681,15783,12398,16781,16793],"class_list":["post-77702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","category-ep-review","tag-bmg","tag-ep-reviews","tag-sean-reid","tag-simple-creatures","tag-strange-love-ep"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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