Review: The Cape Race - Home, Truths

**original blog on my wordpress here**

I first heard of The Cape Race three years ago after happening across out their twitter and, shortly after, buying their self-released EP Now, Voyager. Recently, they released their first full length with label Ten Letters and it certainly doesn’t disappoint.

The Manchester quintet have done a lot towards this album in the last three years. The album, Home, Truths opens with ‘Digging For Gold’, a slower track that builds up as it progresses and definitely one of my favourite tracks on the album. The instruments in the verses seem restrained, really letting loose for the chorus in a way that compliments David Moloney’s strong vocals.

Aside from being an all-round great band, it’s Moloney’s voice that really sets The Cape Race apart from similar bands and puts the album on another level. Thankfully keeping his Manchester accent, no track ever runs the risk of instruments drowning out vocals, but Moloney also demonstrates his beautiful falsetto in the chorus of ‘The 77′. Each track gels together, from more familiar tracks to arguably more experimental ones, without jarring or stopping the album’s general flow; ‘Vines’ seems to me like it was written to be a live track, just waiting for an eager crowd to sing it back.

The Cape Race have by no means left Now, Voyager behind in their debut full-length, however, merely built on it. In fact, the album has four of the six tracks from the band’s EP, and personally I’m thrilled. ‘The Reprieve’ was my absolute favourite track – it’s the right amount of catchy without becoming annoying, and the guitars are just as fantastic as the clever lyrics – so to see it made the album was perfect. This way, anyone who buys the album that might not have also bought the EP get the pleasure of it anyway.

The album closes the same way as the EP, with ‘Now, Voyager’. This certainly doesn’t mean The Cape Race haven’t come far, though. Although more lyrically mellow than other tracks, the closing track takes away none of the albums bite. After a calmer bridge that signs off the build up from ‘Digging For Gold’ perfectly, the latter half of the track is more raw and energetic, and seals Now, Voyager and Home, Truths together. To say that this is a solid album would be an understatement; The Cape Race have come above and beyond since their first EP without distancing themselves from it, producing a consistent sound that they can call their own.

New Music: Pvris

**Original post over on my wordpress here.

   Massachusetts three piece are set to make their mark this year in the alternative rock genre. Their debut EP (available here) was released last year containing 5 songs from the band and giving listeners an idea of their sound. The EP opens with 'Demon Limbs', and show the bands solid sound and strong instrumental tones. The guitars show how skilled the band are with their instruments, giving the EP a more mainstream metal vibe that will appeal to a larger audience. Lynn Gunn's vocals are like a mixture between Mindy White (Lydia/States) with all the raw grittiness of Lzzy Hale (Halestorm). The instrumentals perfectly gel with Gunn's vocals, all providing a kick of their own. All five tracks have the same strong tones that give the band a fresh sound, separating them from the female fronted cliché that they must be 'like Paramore' for having a female lead.

   

   The thoroughness of their sound even hits the lyrics, too. The band shows a maturity in all aspects of their music. There's no hints of auto tune or that they've tried to clean around the edges of their sound, which makes them all the more appealing as it gives them a rawness found in few bands nowadays. However, this doesn't sound accidental - it sounds like the band wanted to keep their sound as 'real' as possible, by keeping Gunn's vocals untouched and allowing the band to keep their sound exactly as they intended. The changes in tempo in the guitars flow perfectly and everything seems to fit.

   This year, the band released an acoustic EP (available here) produced by Blake Harnage (of Versa). Featuring the first four tracks off their debut EP, the sound is much more subdued with the same vibes often found on an album from Lydia (especially Illuminate). The band shows more diversity in their sound, keeping the instrumentals strong yet taking on the same gentler tone as Gunn's vocals. However, this certainly doesn't diminish what they built in their previous EP, but instead adds to what they can achieve together across their genre.

   Gunn was featured in the most recent Glamour Kills line alongside Jess Bowen (drummer, The Summer Set) and Jenna McDougall (vocals, Tonight Alive). The band will also be playing Warped Tour in America this year alongside the likes of Neck Deep and The Summer Set, so they're certainly going the right away about getting their name out there. Their two EPs give a promising taster of their sound, so I'd certainly keep an eye out for their eventual release of a full length - if their music so far is anything to go on, it's going to sound pretty darn good.