Frenetics – Broken Hand EP

Frenetic: “frantic, having extreme enthusiasm or energy”.

As defined, the Yorkshire-based Frenetics deliver their power-pop with extreme enthusiasm and a ballsy guitar heavy sound reminiscent of Suede. Frenetics‘ front-man Gavin has a distinctive vocal style. The singer often elongates his vowels as he sings. This is either endearing or annoying depending on your tastes. I found Gavin’s vocal style to be hit and miss and I had a different impression almost line to line within every song. ‘Broken Hand’ is certainly well produced, maybe even over produced at times and the sound often leans toward guitar rock instead of punk. This isn’t a knock on good production. I really liked Alex’s crisp growly guitar sound throughout the EP.

‘Broken Hand’ opens boldly with the catchy track ‘Ella’. The track starts with an infectious tom heavy drum pattern by Sam that leads into song’s chunky guitar melody. Shortly into ‘Ella’ you get a taste of Gavin’s vocal flavour as he stretches the ‘a’ in the chorus : ‘We kissed together in the marketplaaaaaaaaaaaaace…’. ‘Ella’ launches ‘Broken Hand’ with a rocking start, full of sexy swagger and hazy feedback.

On the next track ‘Satellites’ Frenetics toss out another hook-centric vibe. The band shows some musical range on this track as well. Mid-way through ‘Satellites’ is a curious time change as they slow the tempo down. Ironically the Frenetics sound comfortable and well suited to this non-frenetic state. The short time change is used to ramp the song up for a striking ending. ‘See you on the Other Side’ is a solid rock track. Jacko’s bouncy bass-line punctuates this song’s great groove. Part of the vocals have a chilling ghostly echo added to them with Gavin chanting ‘there’s no place to run and hiiiiiiiiide’.

‘Ella’ will likely be the song remembered from this EP but last the track ‘Swing Kids’ aptly demonstrates the Frenetics‘ musical ability. The song starts off slow, almost introspectively but builds and by the end is up to a typical ‘Frenetic’ pace. Alex and Jacko have some impressive instrumental play off each other as the tempo rises throughout the track. The song fades out like it faded in with distorted troubled guitar.

The EP ‘Broken Hand’ serves its purpose well showcasing the potential of the Frenetics. The four catchy well-honed tracks display various musical facets the Frenetics possess. Loud guitar, soft guitar, catchy choruses, thunderous drums, ardent vocals…it’s all in there. I’d be interested to hear where the Frenetics would take a full album’s worth of tracks.

Released March 20 2012 through Bandcamp

Posted by Dave Guzda

Tags: Bandcamp, Broken Hand, Dave Guzda, EP Review, Frenetics