New Review: Queensbury – Breakdown EP | Sonic Dice Review

Posted on Aug 20, 2009 in News

Here is a review I found of the Queensbury – Breakdown EP.  We recorded, produced, mixed and mastered this EP and this review highlights the quality of the production.

Original Review:

http://www.sonicdice.com/2009/08/20/ep-review-queensbury-breakdown/

Singles + EPs

EP Review: Queensbury – Breakdown

A band that have played Glastonbury and Reading festivals and also toured the US and Europe are not to be taken lightly. So it is with Queensbury who, despite only forming last year, have been busy “gigging their asses off”. Now they have an EP for us to clamp our lugholes to and, again, it’s certainly something to be treated with respect.

One bar of gentile acoustic guitar is all you get before a double-whack on the snare signals the full force of their balls-to-the-wall spirit, sending you flying across the room. Their youthful take on classic rock n’ roll is aided by some hefty production and opening track Train is loaded with assets – meaty drums, crunchy guitar and a vocal so unblemished and pure that it honestly sounds as if singer Gareth Edwards is standing in front of you. Cut It Up has a bucket of dirty chucked at it to beef up the bass and a kick-drum which can scare the hell out of your sub-woofer. A spot of muffled gang vocalising and plenty of “woah” and, indeed, “oh” and you’re left in no doubt just where Queensbury‘s influences lie. What comes as the biggest surprise is the neat little riffs that pop up, often, in their own carefully-cleared spaces. It really energises their material adding a live feel to the EP. They would certainly benefit from piling them on even more to make their song themes stick.

Barren Landscape drags a heartfelt Audioslave connection in but, unfortunately, isn’t flattered by the comparison. That brutalised guitar thunder finds itself so far away from the clean vocal that the two never quite manage to come together, at any time, throughout the track. This Town, similarly struggles when the guitars hit the sustain and overdrive for the chorus. The verses are colossal and do Edwards proud; his Americanised lilt reaching up for soaring sweeps before dipping down into troughs of tenderised emotion. By ditching us with a slab of furious power, Breakdown, a real jab and duck, jab and duck track, you feel like you’re getting a goodie bag to go home with. Disconcertingly familiar in construction to a mixture of rock songs from the 80s/90s, it’s certainly enough to leave an impression. There is no doubt that the band need to keep cracking on cramming every slice of innovation into their material as they can. At the moment they have a lot that feels formulaic, but there are definite signs, in just this EP, that they can deconstruct set patterns and generate something wholly more interesting – Barren Landscape, although not their finest studio moment, is that track.

With more and more young bands breathing new life into old school rock music, Queensbury will have plenty of competition. Good news is that right now, even festival organisers are loading their schedules with just these kind of bands so they can expect plenty more of THAT action. If the trend continues, Queensbury will certainly be one of those chasing a spot of stage time.

Score:

For Fans Of: Rose Tattoo, Velvet Revolver, Audioslave

Label: Self-released

Band Link:
Queensbury