Dead Reynolds - 'Frontier' EP Review

Tracklist:

1. By Your Side

2. PS (I Loathe You)

3. Bright Lights

4. Lines

An EP is a hard thing to get right. Unlike a single (which is just a song that is strong on it’s own) or an album (where you have the space to be experimental occasionally), an EP should traditionally give you a flavour of what the band sound like and stay strong throughout their short tracklisting.

Luckily, as a man who has never heard of Dead Reynolds, it seems as if they got this EP spot on. I came out of this thirteen minutes of listening with a clear idea of what they sound like and an enthusiasm to hear more music from them, which is always a good thing. So since there are only four tracks, lets have a quick track-by-track breakdown and see what I think of each of these songs: “By Your Side” is a great opening track. It sounds very much like the song you would pick to be the single from these four, with great promise and a chorus that is very easy to sing along with, which is always essential. A strong start.

“PS (I Loathe You)” is great. A song that feels like lots of little ideas mashed together to make something significantly better than the sum of its parts, you won’t get bored with this song as it has plenty of variety, some great lead guitar work and another hook-filled chorus.

We are two for two on good tracks here. Will “Bright Lights” carry on this great streak or be a bit of a disappointment? Well, as hard as it may sound – neither. It’s definitely the weakest track on this EP for me, but I’m not saying it is bad at all. In fact, it’s a perfectly enjoyable, slightly slower, Rock romp. Not a disappointment, but not quite up to the standard of the first two tracks for me.

But then we get “Lines”. And this is (for me) the song of the EP. Nice riff, great driving force and just an absolute belter of a tune to end the EP with. This is a stand-out track, and one I could easily imagine myself moshing around to at a gig or rock club the moment it starts.

All in all, I was a big fan of this EP. I haven’t even mentioned how good it sounds (production is spot on) and how the band are able to progress every song throughout its runtime – we don’t just get verse chorus verse chorus with the same arrangements throughout – there are lots of extra bits, guitar fills, new rhythmic parts etc, just making the songs really well crafted throughout.

Dead Reynolds are a band whose style and genre remind me of the good old days of sharing a flat with a friend and constantly watching Kerrang TV, and their songs and musicianship are first rate. I’m off to listen to some of their other work, and I heartily recommend that you give this EP a try – it’s great Rock and I can imagine this band are only going to get bigger and better.