Nottingham has given us a double-whammy; both punk-grunge outfit Castaway and melodic hardcore band Statutes hail from the city, and have joined forces to create a six-track self-titled split EP.
With two bands for the price of one, this record holds a lot of promise. Let’s start with Castaway, who kick off the EP with opener ‘Hexes’ – a track of two sounds. The light melody borders on pop-punk, while the vocals are aggressive enough to verge on metalcore. These two opposing styles run parallel, but never quite meet in the middle. Grunge-punk track ‘Milk’ flows a little better, but even that begins to go off the rails towards the end. Perhaps Castaway can’t quite decide what direction they want to go in; however, they are still very much in their infancy, so a lack of coherency can be forgiven. Their final contribution, ‘June 15th’, is by far their best, with a darker, heavier sound that compliments the strangled vocals; particularly the delicate yet haunting breakdown.
We then move onto Statutes – another band who could use a little more concision. Their opening offer ‘Good Luck Spycatcher’ begins with a beautiful melody that hints at potential, but is then allowed to trail off into nowhere. ‘Incoherent Bond’ is heavy and exciting but, yet again, we hear a mismatch between the vocals and the melody – however, given the title, perhaps this discordance is deliberate. Again, Statutes save the best ‘til last with ‘Character Assasin’ which shows off their hardcore side with a tumultuous tone and anthemic vocal chants.
This album could be tighter, there’s no doubt about it. Both bands have potential but are in need of serious direction and development; without that, neither have a chance of continuity. Once both Castaway and Statutes find their natural flow, their music can mature beyond this bumpy start.
