Going Away Party caught their lucky break when they were spotted playing in a kitchen in Peckham by none other than Frank Turner, who duly offered them his support. From then onwards they have maintained an upwards trajectory, and it’s no surprise Frank was drawn to them as, like him, their tracks are very much lyric-centric and revolve around memories and experiences powerful enough to remain burned onto the soul.The three-piece from Buckinghamshire describe themselves as emo and cite major influences as Mineral and Sunny Day Real Estate, although my feeling when listening to this debut full length is that there’s something much poppier to their sound. I get more of a (The) Get Up Kids or Movielife kind of vibe, mixed with a definite UK scene feel which is current and in keeping with the likes of Moose Blood and Apologies, I Have None.
Perry Hood, who is the main vocalist as well as handling guitar duties, has a warm and well defined voice which is probably just the right amount of throaty. He has decent range and variation to his voice as well which helps him convey the emotion in his songs nicely, and although he does opt to go for a slight faux-American accent it doesn’t irritate or come across as contrived.
Lyrically, there’s plenty to like here – they sing about exactly the same thing every band ever has sung about but they do so in such a genuine and heartfelt way that you struggle to hold it against them. Things like friendships, getting out of their boring town and relationships are the things that matter to them and who can blame them? Those things have mattered to all of us at one time or another.
My criticism would be more aimed at the areas where it feels a bit like they’ve forgotten that picking the lyrics isn’t always just about making all the words they’ve written fit inside the music.
Sometimes less is more, and a suggestion is better than a description, and lyrics like “I can’t wait to get you to my room, not doing much of anything, TV on for backround noise, listening to our favourite tunes”, from the track ‘Stay’, could be written about anyone and don’t tell much about the individual, the writer.
Musically they are upbeat and full of raw energy, and whilst they keep things simple tracks like ‘It Goes On’ demonstrate that they’ve got more than enough in their locker to get a venue of bodies moving and shaking. In fact I’d like to have heard a few more fast and heavier tracks from them on this record but I guess their 90s emo influences give them a tendency to be reflective, which is no bad thing.
UK bands are getting pretty damn good at doing the whole emo punk revival thing and ‘Going Away Party’ weren’t included in Already Heard’s 50 Bands to Watch in 2015 for no reason. At this stage I would still say they were ‘ones to watch’ rather than being the finished article – but do keep watching because I think there could be something special here eventually.
3/5
‘Going Away Party’ by Going Away Party is out now on Disconnect Disconnect Records.
b>Going Away Party links: Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp
Words by Alex Phelan (@listen_to_alex
