Crest Gilder, Embark - EP review

The rockers only formed last summer, so the fact they have got a pretty professional-sounding EP out this quickly is a pat on the back.

The three-track EP features summertime rock that is warm and friendly both in its DNA and its delivery.

Crest Glider - Kelly Bird, 28, from Sedgley, 27-year-olds Jon Collins and Scott Davies, also from Sedgley, and 25-year-old Sean Carroll from Wednesfield – point to Pixies, Fleetwood Mac, Arctic Monkeys, Pulp, The Libertines, Foo Fighters and Interpol as influences. But their final product is a little breezier.

Kicking off with the punchy Daggers, drummer Davies keeps time with his ferocious stick play that is both the glue and the protagonist of this number. His talent with timekeeping is spellbinding throughout. He is helped out by bassist Carroll who plunks along with agility and tenderness.

Bird and Collins let fly with the guitars, their intertwining male and female vocals – a real plus for bands and one under-utilised in our opinion – soaring over the top of the music like feathered predators on the hunt.

This is followed by Little Grenade, easily the EP’s best track with its skipping verses that build up to an emotive chorus.

The off-kilter beats sound great throughout and this is really where the joint Collins-Bird vocal attack comes into its element.

The EP is rounded off by the more downtrodden Nelson Duncan. Collins takes the lead with vocal duties here, and the deeper setting immediately cranks up the dejected heartstring tugging.

Another melodic chorus momentarily lifts the gloomier atmospherics, reminding us that these guys are aiming for the happier side of the genre.

And that is the EP’s slight stumbling block. It is perhaps a little too melody-driven and radio-friendly rock, but for a band looking to establish the sound it’s a solid first effort which can be built upon and expanded.

And with a little rounding out in the grittier sound of rock as tested in Nelson Duncan these could really be a band worth looking out for in the Wolftown scene.

Rating: 6/10

Crest Glider play alongside Siobhan, Troi Parker-Roth and Marina Rey as part of the Beyond Music Festival at Newhampton Arts Centre on February 8. Tickets can be bought here.