Right… I’d never heard of this band before and literally just stumbled over them while looking through my events page on facebook and so I thought I’d give them a quick whirl via their bandcamp. Okay, so the first few bars of opening track Victims parodies (or pay homage) to Radiohead’s Street Spirit (Fade Out). That, I didn’t like. I’m not sure it was even needed. However, as soon as the guitar fuzz kicks in, all is forgetten. This song… this band… are fantastic. A real find. It’s like when I first heard New Born by Muse. Remember when they were a brilliant, original and exciting band rather than just a medicore one playing a bad pastiche of Flash Gordon and Prince? Well, this is that band Muse used to be.
The closing minute of Victims is wonderful; the guitars and especially Nathan Morris’ vocals quite simply kill it.
The second track, JetSet Go Guide, is more of the same. This time more like Hyper Music by Muse. And I’m not saying this is a bad thing. Sounding like Muse’s best album (in my opinion) is okay by me. In fact, at times, they remind me a lot of New Zealand’s Battle Circus (highly recommended).
It is difficult to write about about this band without mentioning Muse and Matt Bellamy. Nathan’s voice is soaring and strong and all the good things that Bellamy’s is, when he isn’t over-egging it; all high pitched, OTT and nasal whine.
The real unexepected highlight for me drops two thirds into Forever, when all of the tension halts and the band take a totally different musical turn. A wonderful marching military beat, glam rock piano and an anthem befitting of the Hammersmith Apollo circa 1973. And what about that closing track Dear Chelsea? The band touch the same places that The Killers did on Hot Fuss when the world thought they were a British Glam band rather than a Las Vegas sci-fi Springsteen. In fact, it could quite possibly be better than Hot Fuss. It definitely references All the Young Dudes, Aladdin Sane, Cosmic Dancer, the Rocky Horror Picture Show and is evetything that was torch-bearingly good about classic glam rock. It literally is a perfect pop song.
Sell Me Hope is not just your average debut EP. This is a band to keep an eye on. It’s refreshing to hear a band fuse the old and the new with such bombast. Right now though, the band have two very distinct, clear voices and maybe it’s the sound of a band still deciding which way to travel but be sure that whichever path these guys decide to take, they’re going do it well.
Euthemia play Barnsley’s Lucorum with Demorgraphic on Friday 11th January.
http://euthemia.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/Euthemia
Alternative Barnsley 