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Promise Me Tomorrow

Through It All EP

Written by: TL on 18/04/2012 13:42:17

I must apologise in advance if this review reads like something you've read before, but it just so happens that - for better or worse - one of the worst criticisms I have about the record in question - The "Through It All" EP by Kent-based pop-punk quintet Promise Me Tomorrow - also really sounds like something you've heard before. The lads are among the latest entries in a growing wave of UK bands influenced by the American pop-punk tradition and as a result, they sound a bit like every other young band from around their parts experimenting with the same musical elements, and a bit like You Me At Six who have been one of the main pioneers in this style in England.

That's the bad news though. The good news is that through all of "Through It All" (hurr) PMT display a commendable understanding for constructing dynamic arrangements with the genres main elements. The guitars have a good mix of melody and energy, the rhythm work changes often enough to keep songs moving and just like YMAS's Josh Franceschi or Denmark's own Mikkel Raavig (of A Road To Damascus), the singer here knows when to accentuate a note with a pinch of falsetto. Furthermore gang shouts are of course thrown in where appropriate and the band even tries screaming on for size on "All Or Nothing".

So basically the band has the foundation in place for a career of making summery, youthful pop-punk tunes. The question is if they meet the more advanced requirements to hang with the top dogs in the genre, and the answer, at least as far as this EP goes, is unfortunately yet predictably: Not quite yet. Normally what you need to take off from 'solid' and make it 'big' is a characteristic spin on your genre and/or some highly recognisable hooks and after several spins of "Through It All" EP I must report that PMT are a little short on both. "All Or Nothing" and leading single "You Haven't Seen The Best Of Me Yet" have some of the catchyness you'd expect from the genre, but they don't come around till the late half of the album, and considering that pop-punk is meant to be stickier than gum under your shoe, I must admit I'm a little underwhelmed. Promise Me Tomorrow have the basics done well enough though, to keep my feet tapping and my head bopping during a casual spin, even if I don't think they yield much more on closer inspection, so it's not like this is a worthless listen at all. It's just not an instant ticket to the big leagues, and had it been, that would probably also have exceeded most expectations for a band's first mini-album, such as this.

Download: You Haven't Seen The Best Of Me, All Or Nothing
For The Fans Of: The City Calls, Kill It With Fire!, A Road To Damascus, You Me At Six
Listen: facebook.com/promisemetomorrowuk

Release Date 23.01.2012
Self-released