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Hiding in Thailand

More Than Ordinary EP

Written by: DR on 11/01/2010 16:56:25

Sometimes the first impression is a lasting impression, but for Hiding in Thailand's sake, I hope that's not the case. You see, they start their EP with the pop-punk cliché: "Whoaaa". Ugh. After I had face-palmed myself appropriately, and removed my head from the wall, I continued to listen, with the XL-sized barf-bag at the ready. I would then go on to fill that bag half full with what could only be explained as a vomit-combo of hot dogs, tea, biscuits, pasta and if memory serves, beer. Am I being unfair on HIT? Perhaps. Perhaps I'm letting my general abhorrence for pop-punk seep through, but surely I'm not the only one who finds pop-punk bearable only when it's done very, very well?

The primary reason to listen to pop-punk is that it's liable to cause happiness as a direct result of the infectious chorus'. If, heaven forbid, the chorus' aren't catchy enough, it's not going to have you singing away - whether you're listening to the song or not. If that does happen to be the case, is there any point in listening to it? Because the only chorus I can remember is: "She's not the perfect girl / WHOAA / She's more than ordinary / WHOAA / And in a perfect world she would be good enough for me." Lyrics about girls, well done. I get what they are going for, I do. The lo-fi, garage'y production, the punk-esque drums, the gang-shouts; their aim is to inject the fun back into sunny, straight-forward pop-punk where the balance is tipped more towards the the punk side. They just don't pull it off.

Now, I can't let you believe it's all tedious and average. "Drama Shield" is slightly better than the rest, even featuring a mini guitar-solo, and an even minier breakdown (of sorts). If I had to recommend any song, that would be it. My love, or even like, for this genre is practically non-existent, so it's little surprise I didn't find anything substantial to enjoy about "More Than Ordinary" EP. Maybe someone a little more forgiving of the banality of the genre will enjoy this more. However, as far as I'm concerned it just doesn't lodge itself into your subconsciousness the way it should if it ever wants to be deemed anything more than ordinary.

Download: Drama Shield
For Fans of: Pop-punk etc. etc.
Listen: Myspace

Release date Fall 2009
Self-Released