By Tim Bolitho-Jones
‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ was rubbish wasn’t it? We were promised a disaster-movie with dinosaurs and instead got some nonsense about a cloned child and a significant Jeff Goldblum-shaped gap. They also never explained how Bryce Dallas Howard’s character isn’t in jail despite being responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people in the previous film or why everyone is so keen on weaponizing Velociraptors, despite the fact that they’re not bullet proof and absolutely would not win a fight with an Apache gunship. It was such a load of crap that here at Über Rock towers, we were quite ready to vent our frustrations on the first band that turned up with an even vaguely prehistoric name and subject them to a tirade of abuse faster than you can say “clever girl.”
Which only makes it more infuriating that we can’t do that with RXPTRS because their debut EP is actually quite good. You can’t indirectly slag off the stupidity of the Indoraptor plotline when the band are genuinely impressive. It’s almost as if they were thinking about their own creative impulses rather than providing an outlet for our own misplaced aggression. What a bunch of inconsiderate bastards.
Anyway, this five-tracker is a good introduction to their world. While She Sleeps-style metalcore is their stock in trade, with a slight air of Indie-rock that may or may not be intentional. They’re an energetic bunch of lads with a decent collection of riffs under their collective hats and while this is only an appetiser, like the Goat in the T-Rex paddock it should lead to bigger, tastier morsels.
Case in point: first single ‘Bound’ is an infectious burst of youthful enthusiasm that belies its dark lyrical content. It sounds like it’d be utterly mental in a sweaty little venue with no barrier between crowd and stage and is well worth seeking out on Youtube. ‘Vultures’ meanwhile is a hyperactive opener with loads of nifty guitar work and ‘Parasites’ is an angst-ridden sugar rush par excellence.
They slow the pace slightly on ‘Temple,’ a more measured approach which almost acts like a mid-record breather. It’s not a ballad so much as a “quiet-verse/loud-chorus” offering that escalates about halfway through, but this is the exception rather than the rule. Final track ‘Blister’ is positively rabid and there’s probably a recording studio in Bristol somewhere who’ll be suing them for repeatedly bouncing into the walls and damaging the structural integrity of the building.
Better than ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ then? Well yes, but then root canal surgery with no anaesthetic is better than ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’. That shouldn’t however take anything away from what RXPTRS have achieved here. They sound like a band on the cusp of a breakthrough and this EP is great. If they can convince whoever makes Jurassic World 3 that the plot should be “Jeff Goldblum Versus The Mosasaur,” then…actually let’s not follow that line of thought. It won’t happen.
That bit with the Brachiosaur on the pier was good, we’ll give it that.
- ‘I’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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