Bedtime For Charlie

Morningwood [EP] (2014)

Rich Cocksedge

Bedtime For Charlie are from Italy and they play melodic punk rock. The band has been around for over a decade in one guise or another and this five track EP is the follow up to 2012's long player, Bright Light City Skyline. It would be easy to pigeonhole the band into a standardised Fat Wreck kind of genre, as there is no getting away from the kind of bands that have had an influence over the members of the band and even the English vocals have a huge American quality to them but Bedtime For Charlie also have a distinctly European quality to them as well, with one foot sitting either side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Musically this release is a mixed bag as the band does its utmost to add some variety to a well-used style and on the whole they succeed, although without opening any new doors in terms of adding anything new to the musical landscape. The first track "Snapshot" is a firecracker that opens like Bad Religion and moves effortlessly into something more akin to fellow Europeans, Antillectual. Like the former, Bedtime For Charlie place a lot of emphasis on the vocals with harmonies adding to the depth to this and the other songs on the release. "Come and Go" is another track that brings to mind Antillectual and is another example of the layered vocals providing for a lush aural experience.

"Captain Chaos" doesn't stray from the formula that works well for the band and is perhaps the best song on the EP as there is more of a lyrical edge to it. "Fallen" and "Silent Songs" keep up the positive momentum of the record and in no way detract from the overall quality.

It took me a few plays to really get the songs into my head and at times Morningwood comes across as a bit too slick for my liking but there is some good stuff going on to retain my interest, much of it being being linked to the vocals, which are well thought out and well delivered.