Review
BATTLESHIPS – TURBULENCE
Released 7th May 2012
Words: Gaz Martinez
With a name like Battleships you would expect no less than a full broadside of musical panache from the Liverpool 4-piece with their latest EP Turbulence. As the title would suggest, the title track starts off, well, quite turbulent. You’re not quite sure where the intro is about to take you, it could lead off into potentially any genre, as it goes, the title track settles itself quite nicely into the sort of ambient and arty rock that Arcade Fire have established themselves on. Vocalist Greg sings above the music in a higher register throughout this EP while he and guitarist Jordan let set the atmosphere with clean guitars, plenty of reverb, occasionally blasting away with some loud and proud chorus parts, drummer Tom pounds his way through, taking care not to try and overshadow the guitars. There are nice progressions, if not mind melting riffs, the key here is atmosphere, and Battleships accomplish this adequately. How to Sleep is a slower number that closes the EP, and is the culmination of the previous three songs summed up into one, best song here by a long shot.
Turbulence by Battleships may not exactly be a ship sinker, but it does well enough to keep the band from being a complete write off, and will be sure to capture people’s initial attention, if not quite hold it. If you’re one for gentler sounding tunes, then you can’t really go wrong here, otherwise if the general ambience of the music might not be quite enough for those people looking for something brimming with a bit more energy.
