Self Against City - Take It How You Want It EP
While Self Against City fit into the Drive Thru formula, they really are an above average band with their execution and I think they definitely have the talent to grow.
Rushmore and Drive Thru folks describe this music as catchy pop songs coupled with rock and roll beats. They honestly are doing their own band a great disservice because I definitely wouldn’t lump this band into the hundreds among hundreds of the all too familiar watered down pop punk bands that fill the pages of PureVolume and MySpace. Being the first band on Drive Thru’s new sister label Rushmore, it’s a typical and expected signing but its refreshing to know that Self Against City does have potential to grow based on this EP. Self Against City are way more accomplished, polished and tight with their musicianship than most bands of their genre.
Yes, the music isn’t breaking any new boundaries or forging into any uncharted waters, and it does fit into the pop rock genre but the execution and delivery of these songs are what give Self Against City the possibility of a bright future. They honestly sound like they have been playing together for years so there is clearly an abundance of talent with all these guys. While the band plays the pop punk format of music the lyrics and vocals are delivered in a more mature fashion and the song topics range from more than just relationships gone bad. The lyrics also come across pretty open-ended which leaves everything open to interpretation. Vocalist Jonathan Temkin also has an above average voice, which is a nice change of pace from the shrill vocals that often accompany the pop punk style.
The EP also is structurally put together neatly with most songs being very aggressive and blaring but they manage to slow things down a bit like on the track, “Speechless.” It offers a nice break down early on in the EP. The band also manages to change and shift the guitar tones around quite a bit to make each track a little different offering some variety where it is rather hard to find in the pop punk genre anymore. It will be interesting to see how this band makes the jump from EP to full-length. Lately, it seems a lot of up and coming bands are doing an above average job with their EP’s because with only five or six songs they are able to offer just the right amount of material to satisfy. It seems to me though that at least Self Against City seem conscience of this as they already have put their EP together with this in mind so with their full-length, they should be all right. I also must admit that I was very skeptical of this whole Rushmore thing- figuring it was an excuse to release more of the same. And while Self Against City fit into the Drive Thru formula, they really are an above average band with their execution and I think they definitely have the talent to grow.
(Rushmore Records)