Kane Fulton

Park&Ride. Apt name. Listening to this band of oddities is like boarding a bus made of jelly and going on a trip to Witherensea. What you have here are lots of spiky guitars drenched in fuzz and wah pedals, distinctive, energetic vocals, and songs about dressing gowns.

Song number one is a cover, a reworking of the Bugsy Malone classic, 'Bag Guys'. Starting with an almost-comedic wah-wah riff, listening to this track makes you feel like you're listening to a gang of Brooklyn-bound mobsters with instruments, not five Hull lads in an indie band.

Second track 'Smell of Success' is a quirky, fast paced number, aloof with Kaoma-esque walking basslines and stop-start call and response vocals. This song is made by a guitar riff that gets inside your head, packs its bags, and refuses to leave.

'No Way Back' launches straight into what Park&Ride do brilliantly: melodic vocal lines. Then what follows is the other thing that Park&Ride do brilliantly: melodic guitar riffs. It's a very 'happy' sounding song, very major in progression. The production is brilliant. The guitars never sound whiny, and the bass always sounds satisfying. The lyric, 'I'm on my knees I'm taking back, all the bad times that I've had, and there's no chance I'm giving up' exemplifies the bands positivity, a refreshing concept in a world of whining, drab, shoe-gazing indie bands.

An arpeggiated guitar riff compliments the eight-bar chord progression in the fourth track, 'Dressing Gown'. I love the chorus lyrics, 'And when I'm feeling down, I wear my dressing gown, I like to show it off, I like to take it off! '. The song ends with a chanting, football mob chorus of 'naa, naa naa na na naa' which brings memories of Oasis' 'Around the World'. The ending is fantastically epic, with a robot voice chanting '1-2-3-4,1-2-3' to a thundering drum-build up, to finish with more chanting.

All tracks are free to download, go get them.

& they're amazing live. Go see them too.

Rating:

9/10

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