Cambridge natives Forest may not be all out of their teens, but they show signs of understanding beyond their years on their third EP ‘Wisdom Tusk’. It’s a collection of pop tinged songs about growing pains and getting to grips with life post teenage rebellion. They have a really streamlined and well honed sound, and this EP showcases them at their best.
The vocals on the EP take on that that disillusioned air of ‘Is This It’ era Strokes and Franz Ferdinand, and it makes a mark in lead track ‘All I Have’. The fuzzy bass and guitars here remind me of 90s Flaming Lips classic ‘She Don’t Use Jelly’, but it’s a bit like diet grunge, very poppy and simple, with the teenage angst toned down. It pulls the whole thing off through the addictive hook of the chorus line, “All I have is all I’ll ever need..all I want is all I’d ever breathe”. It does it’s job and gets jammed right in your brain, exactly what you need it to do.
‘Box’ has a lovely melodic guitar part that picks its way around the vocals nicely, and plays against the sung vocals. There’s a bit of a feel of Editors and Interpol to this track, and I’m impressed by all the little guitar flourishes that add to it. The production by David Allen seems to have helped immensely in making these tracks feel fully realised. The angst continues with ‘September’ and the quietly charming ‘Knots’. The bass in ‘Knots’ is very much in keeping with that Interpol influence; it bumbles around keeping the track from sounding a bit too lethargic, while the guitar flourishes round out the sound.
All in, this is a very nicely put together ep, it has promise, and shows a clear sense of where they want to go as a band. there’s a lot to get your teeth into, and they know their way to arrange a hooky bit of poppy indie music. I’m looking forward to hearing more in the future, and hope they can bring a bit more of their own character into it.
4/5
‘Widsom Tusk’ by Forest is out now through Indelabel.
Forest links: facebook |twitter|Official Website
Words by Heather Robertson (@thecuriosity)
