Press To MECO – Acoustic EP (Marshall
Press to MECO - Acoustic EP
Records)
Release Date: Out Now
There’s something slightly odd
about reviewing a band when your entry point is the remix or, in this case, an
acoustic EP but I’ve been keen to check out Croydon outfit Press to MECO for a
while, so I guess this as good an entry as any. This six-track collection gets
underway with the dramatic ‘A Quick Fix’ that has foreboding drums and
atmospheric acoustic picking with smooth vocal harmonies sewing it all together
– it’s a strong start. ‘Strangers’ has a real American vibe about it with its timid
opening soon swept away by boyband vocals and uplifting melodies that made me
double check that this was being released on Marshall Records (it is, by the
way).
On ‘A Place In It All’, the band
get more reflective with a piano melody that wouldn’t be out of place on a Rom
Com soundtrack, just before the underdog decides to go for it and make his or
her move. There’s a big shift in energy for ‘Familiar Ground’ which still fills
that commercial American radio pigeon hole (not an insult) with the kind of
slickness you might expect from McFly or Busted (or McBusted). ‘If All Your
Parts Don’t Make A Whole’ has a more twisted, edgy vibe and the gang vocal of “I
see disaster right round the corner, I see disaster right round the bend” puts
me in mind of Young Knives. The EP climaxes with ‘Autopsy’ and a return to the
darker mood of the opening trick. A rolling acoustic riff, light percussion and
those uber-smooth vocal harmonies come like the darkening skies of dusk –
comforting but still tinged with sadness. I’m intrigued by Press to MECO, they’re
not the band I expected but there’s clearly another level to be explored here
and that’s always a good thing. A very good thing, indeed.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/presstomeco/
Live Dates:
25th February – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
26th February – Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds
27th February – Jimmy’s, Manchester
28th February – Swg3 Poetry Club, Glasgow
1st March – The Victoria, Birmingham
2nd March – NotAFest 2019, Leicester
4th March – The Brunswick Cellar Bar, Hove
5th March – Sixty Sixty Sounds, London
6th March – Sixty Sixty Sounds, London
20th April – Howlfest, Bristol
21st April – Bad Pond Festival, Brighton
4th May – Teddy Rocks Festival, Blandford
1st June – Marhsall Live, Milton Keynes
2nd June – Camden Rocks Festival, London
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