AS WE CLIMB – LET IT SHOW
Released 6th June 2011

Words: Gaz Martinez

I have never heard of this Cambridge quartet before, but with three music videos under their belt and having supported the likes of Madina Lake, I doubt it will not be the last. Definitely worth a listen for any fan of All American Rejects, each song on Let It Show follows in the footsteps of the firmly established pop punk, and each have their own particular bounciness to it, lyrical content is typically about things like girls and love etc., but Ben Scarr’s (Vocals/Guitar) delivery is such singing along with him is much more entertaining than trying to look for cryptic messages within.

On their own, all six tunes are well able to hold their own, with a very slick and full production and even a few surprises, such as a cheeky little guitar harmony near the end of Call That A Daydream and a few pinch harmonics (The squealy noises that metal bands adore) in Catch Em While You Can (definitely the best song of this EP), and a simple but surprisingly effective guitar solo in Winners Can’t be Choosers. Over the course of six songs, listening gets a little tedious by the 5th song.

By no measure does this gripe make this a terrible EP, far from it, As We Climb’s skills as musicians are not in question, but in a genre which has firmly rooted conventions of song writing, it is easy to sound good, but difficult to sound unique and original. Let It Show does make for good listening, but I hope that when the album drops, there will be enough variation to set As We Climb above and beyond the competition.