The Spill Canvas

Abnormalities EP

Written by: DR on 23/01/2010 18:28:11

The purpose of EPs is for the band to release previously unheard b-sides, preview new demos, or to give the fans a taste of their next album. With the "Abnormalities EP", The Spill Canvas have supplied us with the latter. Having gone from being whiny (albeit very talented) emo bitches on their debut "Sunsets And Car Crashes", to the more straightforward "No Really, I'm Fine" - with "One Fell Swoop" acting as a segue between the two. There's been a degree of progression with each release, and as their sound evolves, the quality is yet to fade.

And it's not about to start now. Led by the wondrously talented Nick Thomas, The Spill Canvas have taken the best of the previous releases, thrown in a new flair, are now more comprehensive, and as a result have found themselves in a niche that's sure to appease fans of old, fans of their former, and endear them to a slew more. They now balance big choruses, with funk-fuelled unconventional guitars that will have you dancing along as you sing; or singing along as you dance. Where less-talented bands may fall just short, seeming as though they have tried too hard to form a marriage from a wide range of genres and influences in order to be deliberately original, TSC pull it off almost casually.

"Gateway Drug" starts this awesome-fest with muffled vocals, low-down acoustic guitars and clapping drums as Thomas sings: "All alone in the still of my apartment, d-double-take apparitions in the darkness / There you are, I'm a fiend. I gotta have it. I need a fix. My danger is habit." A mere thirty-seconds in, the song then slides into a chorus of: "You are my gateway drug, you pull me down and mess me up / You are my gateway drug, you give me a taste of the harder stuff, and I don't wanna stop." And bam, you're hooked.

Thomas, in the form of his life - both vocally and lyrically, throws out examples of his prowess heedlessly. He croons, strains and soars his lyrics which are largely about girls, though never once so much as threatening to sound trite. This is one of the best EP's I've heard in a long time; it's The Spill Canvas at their confident, elegant and swaggering best. If "Abnormalities" is indeed a taste of their next album, now is the time to get well and truly stoked.

Download: There's only three songs, so get them all!
For Fans of: The Starting Line, JamisonParker, Say Anything
Listen: Myspace

Release Date 12.01.2010
Sire

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