Band: Manhattan Coast
Release: This One’s For You EP
Release Date: 17-01-14
South Wales rockers Manhattan Coast are definitely not out of place when grouped up with other Welsh bands such as Kids In Glass Houses and Attack! Attack!. This One’s For You is the foursomes third release since forming in 2011.
The introduction of the opening track ‘War On The Weekend‘ sounds very pop-punk with a chord based riff accompanied by only drums for a couple of bars before they are joined by the bass and lead guitar. This opening riff stays through most of the song, even after the vocals have joined. Vocalist Nick Lane has a similar vocal tone to Paul Tandy of Octane Ok, and if you are a fan of his band this EP is definitely worth a listen.
‘Monsoon Season In Machine City‘ also has a gradual build up, but starts with a more melodic riff and kicks in after a half screamed ‘Let’s go!’. By no means does that make this song heavier or less pop-punk. As the chorus kicks in the track holds echo’s of Attack! Attack!‘s popular song ‘Honesty‘.
The title track is next and two chords are all that plays before the vocal kicks in. This is the first appearance of the easy to sing ‘woah-oh’ style vocals that are hard to ignore. We also hear the return of partially screamed vocals in the bridge of this song in the heaviest moment of the EP so far.
Penultimate song ‘Dreams Are For Dreamers‘ starts with a chant of ‘Hey’s’ and from the start it sounds like a song designed to be played live, with a ups and downs, powerful vocals and a soft pre-chorus.
‘Carpe Diem‘ is the final track of the EP and probably the heaviest sounding. The vocals start in a partially screamed manner and a few breaks in Lane‘s voice throughout the song continue to give this effect. The chorus brings us back to the pop-punk sound, and the bridge falls back to the catchy ‘woah-oh’s’ introduced in ‘This One’s For You‘. The song, and therefore whole EP, then ends on a fade out.
The only real negative feedback I would give this EP is that all of the songs sound very similar, but fortunately it’s a good sound. All of the tracks are very catchy and after only a few listens I find myself humming along.
7/10
Reviewer: Jenna Young
