Underparts

Drown in This [7-inch] (2011)

Rich Cocksedge

Underparts come from Cologne (Germany) and were formed in 2009 by members of both the Dimensions and Deny Everything. They toured with Iron Chic earlier this year and in addition to those gigs, they've released this five-track EP.

Although it's got quite a distinctive sound, and lyrically the band seem to have something interesting to say, I continually find myself unsure of how I feel about this release. The guitars sound good, once or twice they have a sound that reminds me a bit of Dillinger Four and the vocals really do bring to mind one of my favourite Welsh bands of all times, the Abs, although when Bryn Jones was on vocal duties as opposed to Baz Oldfield. However, with such reference points I find that beyond the opening two tracks, "Blank Walls" and "Rainy Days", both of which are decent enough, there isn't anything within any of the remaining songs that grabs me by the shoulders demanding my attention; I have found myself listening to the tracks on my MP3 player and getting to the end without really moving a muscle in response to the music.

I don't dislike what I hear nor do I really like it–I sort of "nothing" it, if that is a useful way of describing my feelings. I appreciate that this doesn't really help in getting over to the general public what the record is like, so just think along the lines of crunchy punk, slightly veering towards the pop side of things, with vocals that have a hint of gravel (but not gruff like Hot Water Music/etc.) to them.

By giving this two-and-a-half stars, it purely reflects how much I'm sitting on the fence with this release. There will be people who have the ability to get down on one particular side of that fence when they listen to the EP, but unfortunately I'm not one of them.