Suffolk quintet Never A Hero do not pay heed to the expression keep things simple. Taking notable chunks of inspiration from their peers, the masked alt rockers smorgasbord of sounds is mashed into their forthcoming album UnEvolution.
And it’s all a little strange. First proper track ‘Mr. Munchausen’ begins in a crazed blast of riffs, which is promising enough and with an encouraging chorus that just manages to take flight it’s only let down by niggly electronics that add nothing.
Take nothing away from the 5-piece, if the execution is found wanting at least they’re ripe with ideas like a storm sample that thunders through ‘Nightboy.’ Whist there is comfort in finding shelter from the rain with compact rhythms and another warming chorus, you begin to sense that Never A Hero have it figured out. Think again.
‘Not Too Cool To Dance’ puts an end to the fairly mediocre rock, with an industrial swarm of electronics that wouldn’t go amiss on an Enter Shikari record. However, where the St Albans crew have thought provoking lyrics to raise awareness about wrongdoing on planet Earth, the Suffolk folk have, “get high, get eager, catch the fever, like your mum is humping Justin Bieber.”
Not only are there cringe worthy lyrics throughout UnEvolution, the Hollywood Undead style rap delivery is also left to be desired and sounds more Bubba Sparxxx than Mike Shinoda.
Elsewhere, the inclusion of beats shake off the alt rock tag surrounding the band making them perfect contestants for the Eurovision contest (‘It’s The Way‘) and when crunching guitars are added it is little more than an afterthought.
By the time ‘The Idiots Are Winning’ pops in – boasting the catchiest chorus on the record – on the back of arcade machine style atrocity and a yawn-fest rock ballad, the damage has already been done.
UnEvolution is a cauldron of wacky ideas that just don’t work. It’s time these lads went back to basics.
