PRE-REBELLION – EP REVIEW

Pre-Rebellion

Pre-Rebellion – Shits & Giggles

First things first, great name. Pre-Rebellion is a name that encompasses all the pent up rage, angst and pre-emptive disappointment that we’re all told teenagers feel these days – and thankfully this is a band of teenagers and not some estate agents trying to hang on to that last shred of youth before mortgaging their parents for a new Bentley. Second things second, this exactly is the reason that I’m so glad the internet didn’t exist when I was 16. You see, this London quartet have some nice ideas for songs, some nuggets of melodies and some ability for songwriting but acoustic recordings made in a bedroom sharing one microphone is the kind of stuff that 99% of the time should remain on an MP3 (or tape in my day) only to be played to girls you’re trying to impress. First track, ‘Ride On Through’, is full of Red Hot Chili Peppers influences right down to the improvised beatboxing/scatting followed by some free form hand-clap percussion. Then comes the anthem for the youth against the rioters, ‘Get Through Me’, which features the line “If you want to rob HMV then you’re gonna have to get through me” which throws up more questions than answers. Do these lads think HMV is the last bastion of music on the high street? Do they think people that are openly looting have not already illegally downloaded all of HMV’s stock? Confusing.

There is a heartfelt number that sounds like it’s lifted straight from America’s ‘A Horse With No Name’ and the EP finishes with the piano heavy ‘The Hollowing Youth’ which sounds strangely like my GCSE coursework mixed with something that the Holloways would write when skull-drunk on cheap lager. Now I’m not in the business of slagging of folk at the start of their musical journey and I think with a tonne of gigs under their belts (seriously guys, gig anywhere and everywhere and always watch the bands you’re on with) these guys might develop in to something worthwhile. Not to mention the fact that this is an acoustic, rough recording of a handful of songs taken completely out of context. What worries me is just how easy it is for artists to put absolutely anything up online these days without a thought of what the quality is like, whether there is a point and what it might do to their reputation if it reaches the wrong ears. That said, this EP is titled Shits & Giggles so I’m guessing these guys aren’t too bothered what people think. Good luck to you I say and please, please, please become awesome one day because that band name deserves some awesome music behind it.

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