Review by Alan Corcoran.
On first listen the new EP Good Friends, Bad Luck washes over you like a sea of whiskey and ginger ale. It is sharp and sweet, it has a kick to it and you have to say it makes you feel good. Sure, you can sense underlying problems lurking and there may be emotional hell to pay later, but for now you’re feeling feelings, and most of them are pretty damn good.
The band are tight. Riffs and drum fills flow out of your speakers with such a natural cohesion that it feels like The Run Up are a five piece hive mind. They seem to anticipate each other’s musical quirks and if you told me these songs were the work of one obsessive genius and not five dudes from Bristol I’d believe you.
There’s a certain confidence in yourself and your bandmates that gets expressed when you have an opening instrumental song on a release. These type of songs come about when a band has found its groove. They have found their sound, they trust each other and they believe in the release enough to present it as a complete piece of art. It’s a subtle but stubborn ‘fuck you’ to the casual, impatient listener and a stimulating appetiser to those who are ready to experience all five courses.
You might think I’m over-reaching on this, but a cursory glance at the themes that run through this release show that these guys have been through it, come out the other side, and realised that in this time and place, they can rely on each other both musically and emotionally. And this is a big deal for a band.
“We feel that this is our most coherent record. It feels like we have really found our direction and ran with it.” bassist Daniel Baker confirms.
When the vocals arrive in the second song they are just the type of lung busting, scream along melodies that you would hope to hear in this earnest, sincere melodic punk subgenre. A singer can make or break a band and in Larry Bernard, The Run Up have a vocalist that fans of The Gaslight Anthem or Off With Their Heads will latch onto and obsess over. There’s an emotional weight to the lyrics and they are delivered with an intensity that will have you busting out the Strepsils in sympathy.
What that means, in wider reaching pop punk terms, is that this is won’t be for everyone, and certainly not for every mood. But I get the feeling that the band are fine with that.
These are the type of lyrics that burn into your soul as you stare out a bus window dring your commute home on a rainy Tuesday. These are the type of melodies you’ll want to be singing, crushed at the front of the barrier and making prolonged eye contact with the singer.
Sure, you’ll be crying into your cereal, hungover, the morning after the show but you’ll know you’re not the only one.
“We are super lucky to have each other to rely on to make the best of the bad situations, ” Larry says.
The Run Up are absolutely a band to keep your eye and ears on as they continue on the hard slog of a journey that is being a touring punk band. If they can have a spell of good luck to draw from and sustain them, they could grow to dominate their corner of the melodic punk scene.
Good Friends, Bad Luck is due for release on Real Ghost Records (UK) and Uncle M (Europe) on September 28th. Keep up with the band’s latest news on Facebook and Bandccamp. Make sure you catch them live too!
26.09.2018 – UK – Bristol – Mother’s Ruin
01.10.2018 – UK – Birmingham – Subside*
02.10.2018 – UK – Leeds – Temple Of Boom*
03.10.2018 – UK – Exeter – The Cavern*
04.10.2018 – UK – Sheffield – Mulberry Tavern*
05.10.2018 – UK – Lancaster – The Bobbin*
07.10.2018 – UK – Milton Keynes – Craufurd Arms*
08.10.2018 – UK – London – Slaughtered Lamb*
09.10.2018 – UK – Glasgow – Broadcast*
10.10.2018 – UK – Manchester – Eagle Inn*
11.10.2018 – UK – Bristol – Mother’s Ruin*
12.10.2018 – UK – Bolton – The Alma Inn*
Review by Alan Corcoran.
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