‘Powerpop’ is a genre that I don’t come across that often, but I’m glad I did come across it in the form of Bristol five piece, ‘We Start Partys’ who describe themselves as a band known for their ‘pop hooks, floor-filling drops, and screaming guitars, backed by pure energy and passion’.
Although they are from Bristol, they have revelled in the Bournemouth and Poole music scene having played a number of shows in the South with an ever growing fan base on their side. After headlining gigs at iBar and Mr Kyps, I felt it was time to check them out, so I gave their EP a listen.
The first track ‘Make Tonight’ starts with synth and polished vocals to build up and eventually burst into punk fuelled verses with drums and edgy guitar riffs beginning to arrange a feel good theme to the EP. The band has already shown their versatility in this track and seem to throw themselves into an array of genres with a poppy chorus and backing vocals which seem reminiscent of ‘The Automatic’. From this track I get the impression that this is what hardcore outfit ‘Enter Shikari’ would sound like on happy pills.
Next track ‘Meet Me on the Dancefloor’ merges synth patterns with pop punk guitar riffs to give a catchy opening sequence. The chorus is close to infectious with a real Friday night feel to it. The addition of female vocals in this track compliments the song perfectly with mixed gender harmonies making this song a great track to anyone who’s about to hit the town.
‘Seasons’ is a less frenetic song which is achieved through the band mixing the tempo of the track throughout. The latter of the song latches onto the chant ‘I’ll Be There for You’ and makes you appreciate how well the band have varied this EP so far. The band has looked for more complexity in structure of this song instead of attempting to cut the corner to find a gem of a chorus, which has paid off with this well rounded track.
Finally ‘All We’ve Got’ starts up with a synth drop, but eventually surprises me a bit as the vocal structure changes from epic long notes to sharp edgy verses with an almost rap like feel. The chorus is undoubtedly well planned and the verses accompany the instrumental strengths of the band. They have stretched the pop spectrum through their exploration of the many aspects of pop, punk and dance anthems.
They are definitely a band to look out for as their next recordings can only get better as the band have recently received praise from Kerrang and Our Zone magazine, which should spur them on to create more unique powerpop anthems.
http://www.myspace.com/westartpartys
http://www.westartpartys.com/
Words by;
George Fullerton
