I Am Freddie Mays are a 5 piece outfit from Bournemouth and Southampton who started kicking ideas about back in November 2010, before coming together in February of this year to form the current band. The line up consists of vocalist Danger, bassist Mike, guitarists Mart and Alex and drummer Crackerz and this is their first CD release.
After being enthralled by the I Am Freddie Mays performance at the Joiners recently, I was interested to know whether the raw energy and passion they have live would carry across to their recorded material. The answer is a definite yes. I know that hardcore isn’t exactly to everyone’s taste, but if you like anything even remotely close to that genre then this is definitely worth listening to.
The opener, ‘Carrier’ gives a dramatic build up to the rest of the tracks, starting with a repetitive drum beat and simple guitar hook that leads you into a false sense of security, before it speeds up and the explosive vocals kick in. The lyrics are dark and furious, perfectly fitting to the style of music, and the transition from one track to the next is flawless.
Second track ‘She Made Me Do It’ seems to be very honest and written from the heart, full of pain and angst, which comes across not only in the lyrics themselves but through the angry shouts, the occasional guitar whines and heavy hypnotic riffs. The backing vocals also add a lot of strength on this one.
This leads into the third track ‘History Of A Bastard’ which is faster and thrashier than the others with perhaps a bit more punk influence here. The drumming is brilliant and whilst it is a short song, it definitely packs a punch.
The CD finishes up with my favourite track ‘I Am The Wolf’ which I have not been able to stop listening to! Ok, so punk influenced hardcore is hardly a genre that can be classed as ‘catchy’, but I found myself singing along to parts of this after only a couple of listens and it did get stuck in my head very quickly. This seems to take influences from punk and old school classic rock and combines this beautifully with hardcore.
The whole CD is very well produced, the balances are spot on and they have managed to find the happy medium between making something that sounds very professional but without sounding too clean which perfectly suits the music they play.
Track Listing
1. Carrier
2. She Made Me Do It
3. History Of A Bastard
4. I Am The Wolf
Words by Sarah Lovegrove.
