Rayner are a five piece punk rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada. The band formed in 2014 and are influenced by 90s punk rock music. On June 23rd they release the follow up to their debut album, Circles, with a new EP named Disasters. Disasters is being put out by the brilliant For The Love Of Punk Records. Everything I've heard from that label has been fantastic so I was keen to give Disasters a listen.
The first track on Disasters is named Jagged Pieces. This song and the entire EP starts off in a way that I fully expect a pop punk band to start - with some upbeat duelling guitars getting things going. I immediately loved lead singer Dany's vocals. They are not what I was expecting at all! I was expecting fast paced and snotty but what I got was clean and melodic. This might be an obsecure reference to many but they really remind me of the 90s Christian punk rock band Fanmail. (Check this out and tell me if you agree). As the song goes on the rest of the band get to add gang vocals, which are slightly dirtier in sound, but work fantastically well. Up next we have a song named Simplicity. What a great track this was! The song begins quite slowly with a slow guitar riff and some light cymbal tapping before things gradually pick up. Not so much in speed but definitely in power. Here Rayner show that you don't have to play everything at full speed to make a big impression. The chorus, when the gang vocals come in again, is where Simplicity really hits the heights. I can imagine a small, sweaty club shouting along to this at the top of their voices. I'm jealous of that imagination, I want to be at that small sweaty club shouting along.
The tempo is upped again on the third song, Get Nasty. As great as the guitars are on this track it's Dave's drumming that really stands out. Especially during the segments where it's mostly drums and vocals. Unless you're giving the track a really thorough listen you don't even realise the guitars aren't there - that's how good the drums are at laying down the rhythm. Another fantastic track. Two songs to go and I'm really in love with this EP. The penultimate track on Disasters is Model Competitors. Model Competitors is a very mature sounding pop punk number about trying to find a constant in your life to put your mind at ease. This song has a soothing quality to it that makes you feel like there are people in the same boat as you and that everything will be alright in the end. I love that sense of positivity that pours out of the song. Music like this is important - it helps people. More of the same please.
Lastly we have the song Blurred Limes. From the outset Blurred Limes has a feeling of epicness that all final songs on EPs and albums should have. Immediately you get the feeling that this song is going to have a massive sound to it. This is another positive song about feeling good about things despite being in a bad situation. The song builds brilliantly towards its finale, which is the real highlight of the song. Dany sings "I'm Feeling Good Tonight" whilst the rest of the band provides some excellent gang vocal harmonies of "We're Already, Already, Already Living In Hell." Just brilliant.
The wonderful Lauren Mills on Mills On Wheels PR sent me this amazing release. I love when she sends me stuff because I know I'm going to love it. Rayner are a band I'm now fully on board with. If you like pop punk music with plenty of melody then Rayner are a band for you.
Pre-order Disasters here: https://rayner.bandcamp.com/
Like Rayner here: https://www.facebook.com/RaynerLV/
This review was written by Colin Clark.
No comments:
Post a Comment