The immortally-named Angry Badger label tell us they have the intention of nurturing their aspiring artists and offering them a stepping stone into the wider music world. Reminding me of the likes of Fierce Panda, their aims are laudable and, frankly, it’s difficult not to get behind any small label that still bothers to care in the shockingly fragmented music industry circa 2011.
Unfortunately, while they are correct in their assumption that “fantastic unsigned bands and artists” often fail to register with the major corporations, they are pushing it in suggesting that Southampton quintet THE RISING are among the finest to be counted in this number.
In itself, there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with the band’s five-track EP ‘Hey You.’ It’s OK enough meat and potatoes guitar rock idolising Oasis and the heady days of Britpop circa 1994, but despite the bluster, it’s sadly devoid of either inspiration or life.
The sleeve photos depict the vocalist tipping his head back and roaring in a Liam stylee and the lyrics to the opening (title) track (“won’t you come with me, see what there is to see/ what’ll be will be”) are straight outta the derided ‘Be Here Now.’ Ironically, the ensuing track ‘Think Tank’ shares a title with an album by Oasis’ former adversaries Blur and sounds like something from the poppier end of their ‘Great Escape’ album, though suggesting “music ain’t quite what it used to be” in the lyric could be construed as shooting oneself in the foot.
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Average though these tunes are, they are still preferable to the failed slow-burner of a power ballad (‘Story of my Life’) and the equally duff attempt at an epic closer that comes courtesy of ‘Strangers in the Night’. The point of including a live version of ‘Hey You’ escapes me, although it has an urgency lacking in the studio recordings.
I get little pleasure from writing reviews of this nature. I get a press release celebrating independence, I’m tingling to hear the record and it turns out to be painfully mediocre. I’m impressed by Angry Badger’s rhetoric, but this EP shows they may have learned to talk the talk but haven’t mastered walking the walk as yet.
Angry Badger Records online
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