EP Review: Where’s Billy – Forcibly Fed – Controlled Volcano
- By Jon Seymour
Artist: Where’s Billy
Title: Forcibly Fed
Genre: Rock
Record Label: Controlled Volcano
Release Date: 23rd July 2012
I first heard these guys when I got a hold of their last EP The Truth Hurts. I liked that EP a lot, so needless to say, that I was really looking forward to this one, and personally, it didn’t disappoint.
Where’s Billy are a group of lads who know exactly what they want to play, and they enjoy every minute of it, and you can tell that from the music. It’s got chunky riffs a plenty, and it’ll get your foot tapping along in no time, and don’t worry, your head will follow suit very soon after.
This is rock music as it should be played, full of negative emotion, angst and vehemence. It comes at you right off the bat, hissing, spitting, clawing and biting like a possessed cat. It’s not brutal, but it will leave you with some nasty battle scars, yep it’s got loads of attitude and every song sticks it to you, hard.
The thing is that these guys keep it all very simple. They don’t try to over-complicate things, and while not everyone might not like that approach, I think it’s a very big risk to take. When you keep things this simple, there’s nowhere to hide, and everything is laid bare leaving everything exposed. In those cases, the music has to be very good indeed, and again, in my opinion, it’s just that.
These guys borrow influences from many genres, be it punk, prog, or good old fashioned rawk and rawl, and then they mix it all together in no particular order, and just like Tarantino’s classic Pulp Fiction, it just works, despite being mashed up. When compared to the last EP, this is a natural progression. It’s thankfully not more of the same, as they’ve brought some new ideas to the table.
What you need to do to enjoy Where’s Billy is just let the music take over. You have to listen, or you just won’t get the point, and if you miss the point, you’ve missed out on the entire message. This EP has a lot to offer if you look past the simplicity of it all, it’s only then do you start to appreciate it. 
