Being from my hometown, I was keen to give this Brightonian quintet a listen and I am glad I did. They bring us an explosive sound and heartfelt lyrics coupled with a high-energy pace and some seriously fast skin pounding. I personally found this particularly great to listen to while driving.
I have a bit of a problem with the ‘pop-punk’ genre they have been bagged into though. I like the music, I just don’t like the name. It’s an oxymoron given that punk was pretty much about being completely against everything ‘pop’ – so maybe it’s time we found (another) new name for this sound.
Six Time Champion don’t have a completely unique sound, there is definitely a genre they are falling snuggly into. I can hear influences from the usual suspects like Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Sum 41, Incubus and the more recent Wombats. But what I like about Six Time Champion is how they make their sound distinctively British and that the vocals have an urgency that gives their overall feel much less of the pop and much more of the punk from their misnamed genre. And maybe that’s why I like them so much.
First track “Lost” bursts open and gets your foot tapping and head bobbing from the outset. It’s a high-energy song that keeps you engaged all the way through with James Dagg’s urgent vocal delivery and emotionally charged lyrics.
We don’t lose any of that pace and energy with the next track “Down”. It’s also strangely familiar and you would expect to have had it in your collection for some time. The bridge takes us appropriately down in pace and perfectly creates the feeling that the song is trying to reflect. For me it’s actually the highlight on the collection.
“Every Angle” is a clever song layering the vocals and churning out chunky riffs and that ever-tense pace from drummer Rich Titheradge.
With a pure vocal opening from James the next track “Uneasy” slowly brings in mellow acoustic guitars followed by some beautiful and slightly unexpected vocal harmonies. It’s another expression of sensitive lyrics from a guy who clearly wears his heart on his sleeve.
This brilliant EP comes to a close with “Doubt”, which brings us back to that fast, unending pace and urgency in delivery. There are some interesting effects and layers going on giving us a jam-packed sound and the sensation again that these guys have been around for way longer than they really have. It ends all too quickly though, and you suddenly realise you’ve reached the end, so you’d better to pop this one on repeat.
More than Me is released today (October 14th) and you can [amazon text=buy it now from Amazon&asin=B01KZ20GOW], which will this site.
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