Welcome to the second installment of my semi-irregular series Rock ‘N Mailbag! For a few months now, I’ve been getting solicitations via email from independent artists wishing me to review their albums. I’m not sure how these people are finding me, but rather than dismiss them, I’ve decided to listen to them and give them a little love.
Pop-rockers What, Really? hail from Italy, that magical boot-shaped wonderland of vino and pasta. Though their email described the band as a “power pop” band, I really don’t think that fits. The band has a pleasant, low key, indie rock vibe. They’ve apparently played the International Pop Overthrow Festival in Liverpool and have crafted a nice little EP titled simply WHAT, REALLY?
The EP opens with “Ophelia (Among the flowers)” which clocks in just under 3 minutes. And while it’s not a barn-burner by any means, it grooves fast enough. The melody is catchy and the vocals are nice and clean. Next is “Dandy Hobo” which is darker and sounds a bit like The Shins with a hint of Jason Falkner. It’s a good song
“Ninja Expert” has a goofy title but is probably my favorite song on the EP. This is the band’s best, most fun song. It reminded me of Canadian indie-rockers Tokyo Police Club with it’s angular guitar riff and shouty vocals. As good as the song is, it feels a bit restrained. I’ll wager that when playing “Ninja Expert” live, the band really lets it rip. And really, that’s the biggest issue I have with these songs, they feel like a band operating at 90%. Just a little extra oomph would have pushed these songs into fantastic instead of really good.
The last track “Clouds” is as good as everything else on the EP but is a bit too short and again feels like a restrained effort. As far as EP’s go from unknown bands, What, Really? have something really good on their hands. If this was mine, I’d be really proud of it. That said, for the full album the band really needs to step up with the energy (or hire a producer capable of capturing their energy better, or both). I think they should stop marketing themselves as power-pop and embrace the indie-rock sound that they cultivate. And honestly, if I were them, I’d buddy up with some Italian Film School kids and let them use their music in their independent film–because I could totally see these songs as the backdrop to some awesome black and white art house flick made by some newbie filmmaker.
As you can imagine, I get sent a TON of crap from all over the globe. What, Really? have a good foot forward, I genuinely hope they pool their resources together and put together a full length album. Based on their EP alone, I would buy an album from these guys. If you’re interested in checking out WHAT, REALLY? you can go here and download the whole EP for free.
Defending Axl Rose 