Apathy Avenue – One more Day

Apathy Avenue – One More Day – E.P. Review

Apathy Avenue are a 5 piece band who describe themselves as “alt-rock” with a mixture of “hard sounds and hip hop vibes” which seems reasonably accurate from having a listen to this EP I don’t really have any prior knowledge of these guys other than having seen the name pop up on gig posters and online this E.P. Dropped in to my inbox last week but has been out since June and I like what I’m hearing.

The opening song, title track “One More Day” starts with a nice guitar and vocal intro and then drops to just guitar for short burst before crashing in with the full force of the band stabbing out big hitting guitar chords with a nice piano part shimmering over the top before easing off in to the verse which is where you can here the hip hop element refereed to earlier, with the vocals rapping over the top of some nice interplay between the staggered guitar and bass parts and some nice flowing drum fills, the chorus then goes a bit more back towards the Alt rock sides things with a nice catchy melody with backing vocals used to good effect to thicken things out and make it more…..chorusy, that’s not even a real word but you know what I mean. After a soaring guitar solo the song drops in to a section mostly carried by the drummer rolling away on a marching type beat underneath a simple but catchy vocal melody whilst the stripped back guitars just sort of hint at the tune from the rest of the song just enough that you don’t forget it before rising back up in to a louder version played with more energy as the band ratchet everything up a notch or two at a time until the vocals end up in a powerful low end scream that manages to keep a hold of the melody at the same time, an unusual thing these days, screaming with a tune not just screaming for the sake of it. After some nice drum filling / guitar call and response work the song drops out for before one more big hit to finish. Its a good opening song that seems to showcase a good range of the bands sound, I can see why they chose to kick off with this one

The follow up song “Apocalypse” comes in with much more of a bang, its full on from the start and doesn’t seem to let up much, heavy guitars and big drums with a nice groove gets this one going. There’s a good vocal melody to this one as well, they change pace nicely too with some driving sections that up the energy level without being too contrasting to what was going on before, it sounds a bit more angry alt / emo /pop punk in these faster parts, but they break the song up nicely and do a good job of making the more groove based sections have more impact. These guys work the dynamics within the song pretty well and throw in a nice heavy section with a good stomp to it before the end of the song as well, its a short, fast, energetic song with some nice grooves. Could’ve worked equally well as an attention grabbing opener, and I suspect probably does live too, its in hard from the start and keeps going like it means business.

There’s a change in tempo for 3rd song “My Ending” the middle track of the EP with the traditional “mid set dynamic change” I guess its the sensible place to put the song that’s a bit different to the others, this ones an all together mellower affair, its all acoustic guitar and vocals with what sounds like some cello in there before a some piano chords come in punctuating the guitar parts and sprinkling some nice little melodic runs over the top when the vocals leave room for it. Its a simple (compared to some of the other songs) 3 minute acoustic and vocal track with some nice string / piano parts accenting things and whilst a decent song in its own right. Its well placed on the EP to break things up a bit before getting back to the rocking.

Track 4 “Carbon Copies” and we’re back at it with another nice guitar and vocal intro but this time it has a bit more anticipation to it and sounds like something good is gonna happen, the drums coming in with simple tom hits before everything else kicks in proper only adds to the anticipation and it sounds pretty damn big once the rest of the band crashes in to the song and has a nice chorus with nice use of a gang vocal repeating the main vocal to give the song a good shout a long moment, this song is probably the most “traditional rock song”, at least structurally anyway, and that’s not a bad thing as far as I’m concerned, there’s a middle section in this one where that hip hop influence comes in again for a second when a short burst of rapping comes in over a simpler guitar and drum part before they kick back in with another catchy vocal melody before the band move towards a big full sounding driving instrumental end to the song interspersed with some short sharp bass sections. I like it.

The last song on the EP. “Sociopath” takes a while to build with a long atmospheric guitar intro joined by the vocals which builds the song nicely, with some simple but catchy melodic hooks added to nicely with some nice sounding vocal harmonies as the bass joins and the song builds subtly before the drums and second guitar join the rest of the guys and really ramp up the atmosphere and finish building the song in to a massive sounding powerful chorus with a really catchy vocal hook. This songs all about the build in to that huge sound before they sneak in another rap influenced section which makes a nice contrast but keeps the flow going before another little build into a final chorus and end section that finishes this EP off in triumphant style. I like this song, its big and its a good way to end.

That’s a good collection of tunes from “Apathy Avenue” its as they describe themselves, heavy alt rock with the occasional hip hop influence. Although its definitely more rock than rap, those sparingly used sections of flowing rhymes do break things up nicely, add a nice contrast to some of the songs and thankfully aren’t overused, so they don’t lose the impact when they do happen.

I Enjoyed this EP, there’s some good catchy melodies, big guitars and some nice grooves on the drums, good work boys, I shall have to come check you out live sometime

Listen to One More Day:
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2 Comments

  1. I agree with everything you say but seeing them in person was like going to a party with balloons, poppers, and a rubber duck ring being passed about, not to mention the energetic interaction with the audience.

    • I’m yet to catch them live, after giving this E.P. a good listen they’re on my list of bands to catch live, that sounds like a good night out to me !

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