7 / 10
Poor old Easyworld. They'd barely even begun their life as a band when good old Steve Lamacq waded in, desperate to off-load
the pressure of expectation,
and declared them "the best unsigned band in the country". Really, it's a wonder we've ever heard of them again.
Nevertheless, here the trio
are with their debut mini-album, even if such beginnings mean
it's almost destined to be ignored.
It was recorded largely in the Eastbourne bedroom of singer
Dav Ford, with no money and
no greater plan than to make
a racket and enjoy doing it. It's
an admirable motivation and '...Better Ways...' works because
it never pretends to be anything more than that.
Though Dav's vocals could easily be compared to a less-angelic sounding Mark Greaney
of JJ72, Easyworld's tunes
are more slapdash pop than poised epics, aping the rattling choruses of Ash (opener 'Lights Out') and the angular bite of Placebo (the drawling punk of
'You Make Me Want To Drink Bleach'). In 'Someone Do Something' they even, quite reasonably, attack "Charlotte Church, Daniel O'Donnell, the Archbishop of Canterbury and
Ann Widdecombe". It's a good attitude and, despite Lamacq's
kiss of death, not a bad start all round.
Siobhan Grogan
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