New EP release from A Fight You Can’t Win picked up national press in Kerrang! Shame they pigeonholed them as Grunge Punk. They could be so much more.
Scottish Grunge Punk? I can’t think of a better way to discourage music fans from listening to a Scottish unsigned band. They may as well have described them as bad aids in audio format.
The band in question is A FIGHT YOU CAN’T WIN. The review from Kerrang! is the band’s self-released EP which featured in this week’s edition. Grunge is a horribly lazy way of saying punk and alt-rock that doesn’t fit into other easier pigeonholes.
It’s why a band like Casual Sex are being described as akin to Orange Juice or Franz Ferdinand. Everything has to fit neatly into an easy to digest concept, where subtleties and variations do not exist because there’s only 300 words to fill.
Let’s ask the question – what characteristics would a band need to have to be Grunge Punk?
The focus would be the guitar sound. We’d expect it to be loose and fuzzy. In fact, the use of fuzz pedals and an avalanche of feedback is a given.
Once upon a time there was a Grunge Punk band from Dundee called THE DAMN QUAILS who were as awesomely grunge punk as you’d expect. Even Alex Botten liked them. Even Fraser from Laeto helped them out on drums for a bit. They sounded like firemen who’d started a fire to put out another forest fire but instead of using fire on fire they used fuzz and feedback on feedback and fuzz. They were epically loose teetering on shamble-core and noisy in the best possible sense.
And you know what? A FIGHT YOU CAN’T WIN sound nothing like THE DAMN QUAILS. Or Mudhoney. Or Tad.
Punk-noise duo Bronto Skylift are more grunge-inspired at heart than A Fight You Can’t Win.
Alrighty, I’ve made my point. The EP in question is still in need of exploration. The self-titled EP has four songs.
1. Bruised Like A Porn Star
Opens with a scratchy chord progression that is similar to REM’s Begin The Begin scratchy chord progression from Life’s Rich Pageant, or plenty of The Pixies’ guitar tracks. All of which pre-date grunge. 80′s U.S. college rock played with layers of fuzz at twice the speed will give you Mudhoney. Are we supposed to think this sounds like Touch Me I’m Sick?
The lack of fuzz or feedback makes it not very grunge. As soon as the second guitar comes in, we’re in alt-rock territory. Which takes fifteen seconds. The vocal isn’t forced Scottishness in the key of tartan which is refreshing. It’s a loud, not hidden in the mix pop-rock vocal in the vein of Edinburgh’s Curators or early Muse. It sounds serious without being clear enough to make out what’s being said. It works as an opener for the EP.
2. Jerusalem Crickets
Sleater Kinney’s album The Woods has a track called Let’s Call It Love. This EP’s second track starts in a similar way. The male vocal instead of a female vocal is why this is labelled grunge. A lead female vocal would put this in the riot-grrrl meets indie rock category. The thought process must go like this: Eddie Vedder had a big vocal, this band has a big vocal, they don’t fit neatly into anything else, let’s call them grunge! The breakdown section at 2:11 with the female vocals puts me in mind of Veruca Salt or Sleater Kinney. It’s the best part of the track. In fact, AFYCW could pick up a trick from Big Deal and make dual vocals a more prominent aspect of their music. There aren’t many Scottish rock bands doing it properly (exceptions include Kid Canaveral) and I reckon it’d sound fantastic.
3. Boiling Sea
Foo Fighters’ track Times Likes These chords without the riff, that’s a bit what this sounds like. With vocals that could be Sons and Daughters if it was sung in the key of tartan. But it’s not in that key, and it’s BIG, so it must be like Eddie Vedder. *Sigh* I hate music reviewers. You can see how they think. It’s like they’re in a rush so they scribble down the first thing that comes to mind. This song reminds me of alt-rock bands. Hmm, this vocal is too loud in the mix for my liking and it’s a bit dull until the band jam it out half way through. Skip to last track…
4. Burning Sky
This track sounds ace until the male vocal comes in and I wish it was Carrie Brownstein. Too harsh? Thing is, if someone reviews your band and starts saying anything about vocals then bands tend to take that very personally. Which is daft because it’s all subjective. However, if you’re going to put the vocals front and centre of every track then you better have Joanna Newsom-esque levels of uniqueness or Chris Cornell’s range. Otherwise you get 3/5 instead of 5/5 from magazines like Kerrang! This song arguably has the best chorus, it’s still loud and yet I still can’t make out any lyrics. Weird.
Verdict? As much as the word potential is over-used, that’s what this EP sounds like. The song writing needs improvement and I’d rather hear a lot more backing vocals and a main vocal rethink. The melodies are far too predictable. If Grunge Punk in 2013 means bands like METZ, A Fight You Can’t Win need to raise their game. A lot.
Having written this much, I must be rooting for them to do it.
VISIT THE BAND’S WEBSITE TO STREAM THE EP
