Review:'Survival Code, The' 'Hopelessness of People'
- Genre: 'Rock'
- Release Date: '31st August 2018'
Our Rating:
‘Lets go back to basics,’ Gary McGuinness sings softly by way of an opening line to the second album by The Survival Code.
Having gone through a succession of bassists, Gary (guitar / vocals) and Tom Cook (drums) have done just that, electing to operate as a duo. The dozen songs on offer here demonstrate the pair’s focus on the core aspects of songwriting, with simple but solid riffs, strong melodies and keen harmonies defining the sound, which also betrays Foo Fighters and Biffy Clyro influences.
On ‘Crawl’, they weave some vaguely proggy leanings into the expansive rock sounds. The refrain ‘One step forward / one hundred back’ could be taken as a summary of their career on the way to ‘Hopelessness of People’, with management difficulties and production delays coming on top of the aforementioned bassist issues. But far from being downbeat, ‘Hopelessness of People’ glows with an aura of positivity.
