Manchester alt-rockers Autumn Ruin are the latest band to give the pop rock anthem a go and have made a five track EP – ‘We Make Our Own Damn Luck’ – that sounds like all our favourites. How easy is it to stand out in the pop rock world, however? With bands like You Me At Six, Young Guns and Lower Than Atlantis all raring up for major comebacks, it’ll take a lot to find a spot in among the big names.
‘One Two Three’ has all the tropes you’d look for in a hit: a singalong chorus, simple hook, and plenty of power chords. If you’ve got your pop rock bingo card handy, you might well get a full house. While sometimes nothing beats an easy-listening pop song, the genre can often feel a little too safe. ‘Rewrite’, however, sounds like a different band altogether and the band push themselves to the same level as all those names we mentioned earlier with some faultless singing and a soaring string section.
Opener ‘We Make Our Own Damn Luck’ is a somewhat surprising choice for lead single as it’s not the strongest song on the record. Although it’s a melodic, mainstream effort, ‘Forward’ is just way, way better, with the force and power behind it that the other tracks haven’t quite reached yet. Hinting towards something special, it adds layers of smooth vocals, uplifting lyrics, and electronic production effects to an impressive end.
‘No One Does We (Like We Do)’ follows suit and sounds just as huge. There’s bucket loads of “whoa-ohs” to singalong to and an ending that builds and builds to an emotive conclusion. It’s not a perfect EP but they’re not far off and if Autumn Ruin can write more songs like these, they’ll be sharing the biggest stages in no time.
KATHRYN BLACK