Those of you who are familiar with Fine Young Firecrackers (who supported Enter Shikari not too long ago) will know they called it a day somewhat out of the blue. Well, Pedestals are a new project formed by certain members of Fine Young Firecrackers and you’d have to look to California to find a band with more out-and-out pop-punk feel.
Opener ‘Baby’ is a short but sweet burst of punky energy, which leads excellently into ‘Friends’. The only problem with that particular track? For some reason the production on that track alone leaves a little to be desired. The guitars sound like a goose burping into a megaphone, and the vocals sound a little hollow and could do with some EQ-ing to fill them out. On the flipside this can be attributed to this being a first EP, and we’ll let it fly this time.
The Fall Out Boy-esque riff to third track ‘Goodbye’ would be sure to get people jumping live, and the extremely uplifting chorus is a fantastic sing-a-long moment if there ever was one. The simplistic-yet-bouncy riffs are dance at your desk catchy, and there’s also the first and rare case of gang vocals on the EP. Still, by barely using it Pedestals have steered clear away from a somewhat clichéd genre trait.
Final track ‘Everything I Am’ takes a bit more of a mellow approach than the other tracks until we reach the chorus, at which point the pace picks up a little and the vocals become massive. It’s nice to hear a young singer who can belt out those lyrics like the whole world was watching, and it’s a great way to close the EP down.
There’s not many that would deny that pop punk struggles to avoid stagnation and the clichés, but when you find a young band who put out something like this for their first EP, it’s pretty clear that there’s plenty good to come. A promising first effort.
ANDY LEDDINGTON