TWO CHOICES - EP review added 23rd March 2010
EP Review: Have You Heard EP (2010)
For fans of: Pop Rock... and pleasant fresh sounds
Two Choices - Ash Plank on vocals and keys, Tom Clarke on guitar, Tim Cook on bass, and Ryan O’Sullivan on drums - come from Brighton on the UK's south coast. The band are celebrating a decade together in 2010, and they've averaged nearly 50 gigs per year in that time.
Have You Heard? follows the band's debut release, the mini album Longest Journey. Their sound is a mixture of pop, rock and indie and nods to such disparate acts as Erasure, The Killers, Nickelback, Rooster, The Cult and more. Two Choices is a young sounding band with a mature edge. The overriding feeling is of fun: this is definitely a band to catch on the live stage.
'Here We Go' kicks things off. It's a pleasant track with keyboards and guitars fighting over rights to the best riff. It takes a time to get going, but the chorus is a cool sing-along effort that would go down well after a pint or three. 'Chasing Rio' is even better. The 1980s synth leads into a big thumping track with a breathtakingly enjoyable chorus. If every track on the EP had sounded this good it wouldn't have been far off full marks. 'I Believe' is a more emotive track, although nowhere near ballad territory. It's a decent enough song, if weaker than the other entries. Final entry 'Angels' boasts a speedy rhythm and contagious nature. It's a modern track with a retro backbone and deserves plenty of attention.
Have You Heard? is a good EP. There are two excellent tracks, one great one and one merely decent entry...and that's a lot more than you get on some full length releases! I really hope Two Choices see fit to put the effort into making a full-length album some time soon. It would be a shame if they didn't share more of their music with the world.
Check out... All of it. One of the best EPs I've heard in ages.
Track List:
01. Here We Go
02. Chasing Rio
03. I Believe
04. Angels
Artist's website(s): Two Choices , MySpace
