Saturday 4 August 2018

Album Review: Farewells & Goodbyes by Don't Kill The Postman


I don't know why but the description of "five old guys trying hard to play mediocre punk rock" really struck a chord with me. Probably because I'm a sucker for self-deprecating humour like this. This is something that made me want to review the new EP from Switzerland's Don't Kill The Postman. Their band name is another reason why I wanted to check them out. On the 1st of July Don't Kill The Postman released their debut EP Farewells & Goodbyes – which seems like quite an ironic title for a debut release – and features four songs of melodic and not mediocre punk rock.


The first track on Farewells & Goodbyes is named Make This Right. Make This Right is about finally stepping out of the shadows and trying to make a positive change. I'm not sure if they mean politically or in their own lives but I enjoyed the positive message of the track. This is a mid-tempo punk track that really comes alive when we hit the chorus with some superb gang vocals – you all, hopefully, know by now how much I love gang vocals. The second track is named Nothingness and continues the style of mid-tempo gruff punk with lovely gang vocal choruses. It's about feeling like you're in a freefall following the dissolution of a relationship. It's at this point of the EP that I realise who the lead vocalist reminds me of – Mike McColgan of the Street Dogs, one of my all time favourite singers.

The third song on Farewells & Goodbyes is titled Indecision. This song is about friendship and the feeling that you've let your pal down despite them always looking after you. With its short line lyrical structure, Indecision is really easy to get to grips with and sing along to. For me, this is really important for this type of music and Don't Kill The Postman do it really well. Like all the best gruff punk tracks, it finishes with plenty of whoa-ohs that will get a live crowd shouting along with the band. Lastly is the song No Place To Hide. This is probably my favourite song on the EP. It starts out with a building intro that leads into a brilliant moment where the whole band shout the opening word of the song. This is a really striking way to start the song off properly and I loved it. It got me invested into the song quickly and really had me wanting to hear more. This song is sing-along punk rock at it's finest. Being the final song, there is that big epic feel to the song with Don't Kill The Postman finishing the EP in some style.

I really wouldn't describe Don't Kill The Postman as mediocre. This is a really, really good debut EP that I will be recommending to all of my friends. You should too.

Stream and download Farewells & Goodbyes here: https://dontkillthepostman.bandcamp.com/releases

Like Don't Kill The Postman here: https://www.facebook.com/wearepostmen/

This review was written by Colin Clark.

No comments:

Post a Comment