EP REVIEW: Glasstide - Lights

I’d never heard of Glasstide before, but with a description of ‘rock/pop/punk’ they sounded right up my street. I eagerly anticipated the arrival of their EP, and immediately hit play once it had landed in my Dropbox. Obviously, you wouldn’t be reading this if you didn’t want to hear my views, and I really don’t want to start off on a downer but, in honesty, my first thoughts wasn’t totally positive.

Musically, they sound awesome. Not overly complicated or pretentious, theses guys sound like a group of mates who one day got together over a pint and decided to form a band, and, in fairness, didn’t do a bad job of it. The bit I struggled with was the confusion. There were 4 songs on their EP, Lights, and all of them could be fitted into different genres and be compared to totally different bands. Never have I listened to a band whose style jumps from that of Offspring to Avenged Sevenfold, with a bit of Simple Plan and Four Years Strong in the mix, too, all within four songs. Southern Rock seems to influence these guys too. Not that it’s necessarily a bad thing, just not what I was expecting. They just really don’t seem to know who or what they are.

They describe themselves as “Combining the raw edge of hard rock, the energy of punk, and catchy pop melodies, Glasstide aim to breathe new life into the music scene!” I am a big punk fan- I’m talking bands like Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys, The Clash and The Ramones, and in truth there was none of this in ‘Lights‘ at all. Similar with the hard rock description. More southern rock and pop punk. The catchy pop melodies, though, definitely. The opening song, Be There, is strong. Great opening beat and very memorable tune. It’s got a dark but fun sounding guitar melody similar to Hüsker Dü, with a bit of Papa Roach thrown in. I can honestly say I love it more every time I hear it. We then move on to the signature tune of the EP- Lights. It sounds like it fell out an Avenged Sevenfold album. It’s pretty good, but not the best of the four tracks. Third up is Since You’ve Gone. This is an interesting one. Imagine Offspring’s instrumental but Hinder sounding vocals. Odd, but strangely not that bad. And finally, they end on You’re Not Worth It. I can truly say that if I didn’t know that this was a Glasstide song, I’d never have guessed it. It literally sounds exactly like a Simple Plan ballad. This, for me, is brilliant. I absolutely love Simple Plan. It was very unexpected though. It’s a really good, sing-along break up song. A real ‘fuck you, I’m better than you’ to that person. You all know what I mean. Each song, as a stand alone, is really good, but put them all together and it doesn’t quite work. They’re all just so different. Glasstide‘s talent is really obvious, they work well together, they sound good and I wouldn’t ever say they’re bad, they just need one clear direction.

I listened to the EP four times before I could truly get into Glasstide. Finally, the confusion just wasn’t important. These guys don’t seem to have quite found their niche, but they’re good nonetheless. Their tunes are catchy, they’ve got some good riffs and they’re pretty entertaining to listen to. I would definitely go and see them live if given the opportunity, which I always think is a good indicator of a band, and I think they’d make a great festival band, too.

So, to sum up, I’d say go into this with an open mind, don’t have an expectations of a particular sound and just enjoy the music.