At times sounding as if they take their inspiration from punk across the pond in the form of Leatherface, (albeit a slightly poppier version) Philadelphia quartet Ex Friends are back with the follow up to last year’s record ‘Rules For Making Up Words’ with an EP comprising four songs entitled ‘Animal Needs.’
Like a marriage that’s in a rut afraid to explore the unfamiliar Ex Friends stay true to their roots. With guitars that jangle more than Pat Butcher’s earrings and a chorus that would make Candy Hearts more metal than Metallica, Don’t Do It Like That (Do It Like This) is punk in its softest form.
Plow United frontman Joel Tannenbaum takes the reins on the fast paced Real Life. While possessing more gruff in his voice – than co-vocalist Audrey Crash – helps to give the song a little more of a threat, it still falls short in the taking risks department, with the only worthy note coming from the strings of an unlikely source, a violin.
Maybe the whole point of Ex Friends is to not to expect too much, as even when they do go straight up punk on Word Police they still sound annoyingly polite, even the “shut-the-fuck-up” which should come out in a snarl would have a nun grabbing the rosary beads to pray for something with a little more oomph.
Sisters’ craving punk aside, ‘Animal Needs’ is all a bit vanilla really. On closer Fadeage (City Inspector) Tannenbaum sings, “it’s all just fading away.” Unfortunately for Ex Friends these lyrics are a damning verdict of one’s memory after finishing this EP. Totally forgettable.
