Summer chart success should be Plane sailing
CD review: Shouting at Planes
Shouting At Planes have taken a giant leap towards fulfilling their unquestioned potential with an impressive new EP Surrender that is crying out to be a summer hit.
Surrender, an Arctic Monkeys style pop-rock, lays bare their manifesto - guitar-led pop rock with a greater complexity than almost anything else you'll hear in the charts. Crisp picking ignites the title track's fuse, and switch to chopping rhythms before catchy licks and ferocious fret board work take over. This isn't guitar-hero stuff - not yet - it's all tastefully done, allowing the confident vocals to carry the song. The oh-ah harmony might bring to mind the Oompa-loompas, but that's not stopping Surrender from winning airplay from the likes of Dave Fanning, Paul McLoone and of course Phantom FM. It deserves to invigorate the national stations' airwaves for what remains of this summer.
The gentle opening to Arrested strolls along to the beat of a snare drum, but the second half morphs into a driving pop tune which could as easily come off an album by The Killers as it could from this Bailieborough band. There's a very strong American flavour to the EP.
Having explored pop-rock on the first two tracks they spread their wings with a funky romp on The Fall, and then a brass-infused curiosity Waiting Room - it has the feel of The Doors' Alabama Song, but more upbeat.
The guitar hero element closes the EP - If you were to stumble across To The Sea three and a half minutes in, you could be forgiven for thinking you were hearing Lynyrd Skynyrd in their pomp - a spectacular solo full of twists and turns. Muscular and melodic in equal measure it transports you to the halcyon days of classic rock. Shouting at Planes' creative instincts are at their peak on this track, but it remains accessible.
The success of the Surrender EP lies in sheer number of ideas the five piece are able to cram into such tightly honed songs. Production is polished and professional yet they sound fresh and their energy crashes from the speakers - it's clearly a bunch of mates doing what they love. To find out if you love it too, log onto www.shoutingatplanes.com
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