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Big Mess

Big Happy EP

Written by: PP on 05/02/2015 23:34:08

It's no secret Denmark isn't exactly the breeding ground for a flourishing punk rock scene, at least not if you exclude anything hardcore based anyway. So a new band on the scene recording something and sending it out for review consideration is always welcomed with open arms by this magazine. Here's one of them - even if they're not quite ready for prime time yet. Big Mess is a Copenhagen based pop punk outfit that came together at some point during the last year or so, wrote a few tracks, and recorded them in a rehearsal room for their first ever four-track demo called "Big Happy" EP.

And that is exactly how it sounds like. A totally amateurish and sloppy DIY demo tape with zero production values applied, resulting in a horrifically unbalanced sound that really can't be recommended for anyone other than their friends, family, and those of us wishing to get into a band before they're even a band per se, if you know what I mean. It basically sounds like the recording device was placed in a shoe which was placed in a closet on the opposite end of the rehearsal room, leaving drums flat, vocals faded and mix between instruments nonexistent. This is about as much nice as you can say about that aspect of the record, unfortunately.

The good news is, however, that the underlying songs are rock solid if you're able to get past the shoddy production. "One Good Reason" and "Make Up Your Mind" have underlying melodies that definitely have the capacity to be infectiously catchy on a properly produced record given their fusion between no frills punk and pop punk ideals. Through the fog you can hear influences ranging from Off With Their Heads to The Copyrights and The Dopamines, i.e. the usual suspects within this style of punk rock, whereas the guitars occasionally reach into tone and melodies attributable to early The Strokes material. In other words, the melodies are sing-alongable, have plenty of drive attached to them, and exhibit passion all around. Now, let's get a proper production job for these songs and then we're talking about an extremely promising bunch in the context of Danish punk rock. For now, the recording isn't going to say much for anyone else but their friends and those in the know within the local scene.

Download: One Good Reason, Make Up Your Mind
For the fans of: The Copyrights, Off With Their Heads, The Dopamines
Listen: Facebook

Release date 08.01.2015
Self-Released