Cardinal Bay - 'Answers' EP Review

Tracklist: 1. Answers 2. Out Of Sight 3. #Shotgun 4. Masquerade 5. There Are No Flames In Hell

Pop-Punk has had many evolutions and to be honest has such a broad range of styles crammed into the definition. Bands such as Blink 182 and New Found Glory, sit alongside the harder edged, more metal and growling vocals of A Day to Remember and Four Year Strong.

Cardinal Bay's EP takes a leaf largely from the latter bands and straight away there's much to like if you're already a fan of this style. The driving guitar riff sweeping across the speakers of #Shotgun was excellent and a nice touch in mixing.

In fact the guitar work is strong throughout, ranging from the heavy punchy riffs, to more subtle background fills and melodic choruses, there's much to be admired.

The rhythm section, similarly work well across all songs, with particular admiration for some of the bass riffs, that add way more than generally playing along with the main notes of the song. The ability to show off the talent of all band members is what makes each track a strong showing.

Vocally, the songs are all on point, with a vocal I could describe as “Rou Reynolds-esuqe” (That's a style now I'm sure of it) with the familiar growls and gang vocals that are tropes of the genre.

With that being said, it's very difficult to differentiate from the many, many UK bands of this genre. There's such an over-abundance of bands like this that makes it hard to stand-out. I found myself at times during the initial listening zoning out, and found that the tracks melted into one.

The best way to stand-out is excellent production and mixing, and this EP has done a great job of that. The extra attention to detail will further establish the band and grow their fan base considerably.

An excellent stage presence and live show, and this bands star will continue to rise. Hopefully there's a truly innovative track in the future that will really help them stand-out from the many other bands.

Stand Out Track: #Shotgun