EP: “Ballads From The Cronk” by St. Evel

Croydon New Wave/Punk Revivalists St.Evel have a new offering out at present which came into my hands for review this week.

On 2nd listen it’s apparent they wear their influences fairly heavily on their sleeves. “Throw It Away” opens proceedings with a clean “Post/Punk” sound-not lyrically challenging but a big guitar sound nevertheless. The faster sections of the song have a Punkier flavour with a bassy middle 8 – a decent opener. “She Said” has a big drum intro to accompany the Punky guitars. To this reviewer the vocals sound early Geldof-esque, (Looking After Number 1 era), while the music screams Ramones. Hardly bedfellows but once again it works. It’s at this point we get the 18 second epic that is “Evel Descent” -say no more! “Lee Harvey” returns us to what this band do best. A heavy intro is matched by imaginative lyrics, although the the middle 8 here is overlong. There’s more than a nod towards the Supergrass classic Lenny, but I don’t think it’s deliberate. The “hammondy” ending keeps it interesting on what is (to me) the standout track.

“8818” is “Magazine-esque”, hard brooding drums before the song lightens up with a twangy guitar part. I just don’t see where the chord changes in the middle 8 fit though, and once again it’s overlong! What more can be said about “An Interlude” – all filler, no killer. Need I say more! “Flame” ends this collection with heavy guitars and bass and some tight tambourine-led drumming. There’s a big Generation X influence which works for me, but once again I’m troubled by the long-winded middle 8. So; to sum up, a decent debut from a band I feel have plenty “in the tank”. Time will only tell if they can take it to the next level and follow this up with a 12 track LP.