Melbourne five-piece Shortfall are a quality rock band. When I say ‘rock’ band I mean in line with the kind of rock bands that people who don’t go to Soundwave would call punk. There are elements of the late great proto-punk band Thursday in Shortfall’s sound.
What really draws your attention to the band’s debut EP is their execution – it is so tight. Reminiscent of punk crossover legends Refused’s This Might Just Be… The Truth this EP opens with a instrumental track that highlights the textures and heaviness that can be captured by a band with three guitars. The harmonics of the outro of this track are adept, eliciting an emotion your normally get from vocals.
Speaking of vocals, frontman Simon Borg doesn’t have a huge range but he picks the right times to sing. The song One In A Million sees Borg keep his voice low and unobtrusive as the slick lead guitar and dulcet rhythms interplay to create the album’s key ballad.
The highlight of this seven-track EP (a more pretentious band may call it a mini-album) is track two Surprise. This song comes in directly off the back of the final guitar distortions of the Intro. For the most part the song plays off between a quiet verse and a fairly massive chorus with the interplay between three guitars the highlight.
This is a well executed release from a local band with a world class sound.
DENVER MAXX
Best Track: Surprise
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: THURSDAY, BUTTERFLY EFFECT, DEAD LETTER CIRCUS
In A Word: Tight
