It was October 2010 when I first set my eyes on Canadian pop punk/rock outfit, Ten Second Epic as they performed a free show at iBar in Bournemouth, just after being kicked off of a tour with Twenty Twenty. Despite their obvious low morale from the shock of being left stranded due to a controversial incident, they amazed me that night with their effortless flamboyancy and power in their performance. A year and a half later, and they’re back to rock the intimate Joiners venue in Southampton, to promote their third album “Better Off”, an record which exposes the bands rock driven roots and intelligent song writing ability.
I apologise to Tides and The 3rd League as I missed their performances due to arriving at the venue later than I expected to.
Opening my evening to a fairly small crowd is Salisbury based band, These Days who kick off to a deadly silence following their opening track, which can’t have done their confidence any favours. Despite their best efforts to connect with the crowd, their attempts at small talk end up leaving just the faint buzzing of their amps to bridge the void. Their sound fuses edgier factors of pop rock, which is most likely through their self described influences, including Foo Fighters and Brand New. Sadly, the deathly silences between songs and lack of response from the crowd may have disgruntled the band, as their performance seemed flat at times and lacked passion. Despite this, their final track “Brightest Eyes” struck me as well written and in the right direction to achieving more out of their sound.
The Penultimate band of the night comes in the form of Birmingham rock outfit, LYU who are tour support for Ten Second Epic’s UK dates. The band shows that they don’t know the meaning of the word shy, as they rip into their set with drive and purpose. The crowd seems livelier this time round, but there is still an unhealthy percentage of the audience hiding near the back of the small venue. After pumping out their hard hitting rock anthems, with some excellent vocal work from front man Tom Hill, the band play a beautiful rendition of “Save The Day’s At Your Funeral”, to underpin promising things for this band. They embark on a co-headline tour with Verses in April, so make sure to check them out if they’re stopping near you, as they’re well worth the night out.
Finally, it was the moment I’d been waiting for, sadly the crowd still seemed stationary as ever, but nevertheless Ten Second Epic broke straight into new album opener “Young Classics” which almost blew my head off with its passionate aggression and musical prowess. The chorus is frankly infectious and marks the significant improvement in the bands song writing since their first two albums, as massive riffs and soaring vocal work create a masterpiece of an opener. As the band pelt out song after song, tracks such as “Everyday” and “Suck It Up, Princess” seem to spark the crowd’s attention, but newer track “Runaway” shone out as their strongest song of the set in my opinion. The flawless vocal work of Andrew Usenik bodes well with the bands flamboyant outlook and excellent guitar work, showing just how much talent this band possesses. A mention should also go out to bassist, Sandy MacKinnon who would probably win the prize for the most head banging during a set at the Joiners, with his long black hair flailing around for virtually every song. There’s a clear sense of love for their music in this bands performance and it saddened me to see the majority of the crowd lurking in the backdrop and not appreciating their display to the point which they deserved. Overall, this band deserves what they have achieved over the past few years. They may not have entirely cracked the UK scene yet, but with big tours coming up in Canada and America, the first leg of the Vans Warped Tour and their fourth album, they may just get there for the next time they visit.
Ten Second Epic’s latest album “Better Off” is out now: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/better-off/id455194032
Set List
Ten Second Epic
Young Classics
Well that’s The Thing
Suck It Up, Princess
Everyday
Life Times
Runaway
Better Off
Northstar
Count Yourself In
http://www.facebook.com/tensecondepicmusic
http://www.facebook.com/lyurock
http://www.facebook.com/TheseDaysrock
Words by George Fullerton.
