During the recording process for ‘Another Year, Still Here’, ReVerbed came close to bringing their time together as a band to an end. Thankfully they didn’t, and the result is a neat collection of songs that are brimming with energy and passion. ReVerbed’s album ‘This Machine’ showed a gritty side to the band with plenty of hard-hitting riffs, but overall ‘Another Year, Still Here’ has a much brighter vibe.
Opening track ‘Breathe In, Breathe Out’ hooks you in with vocal harmonies, whilst the crunchy guitars and drumming give the song enough weight so that it leaves a good first impression. ‘Bury Me’ leans back towards the heaviness of previous material with a pounding riff that rises and falls throughout the song, but ReVerbed contrast this against a solid chorus that gives the track a much more fleshed out feel.
For the majority of ‘Another Year, Still Here’ Zoe, George, and Josh combine their vocals to give ReVerbed a unique voice, but ‘Keep Me In Your Eyes’ sees them give the most time to their individual styles alongside the usual group harmonies, and it’s an approach that results in the strongest sense of melody on the EP.
‘Promises’ brings ‘Another Year, Still Here’ to a close and it’s also the highlight of the EP. Whilst the other songs all have their strengths, it’s on ‘Promises’ that everything comes together so brilliantly. There’s the now familiar vocal approach and creative guitar work that has been shown in other songs, but there’s an energy and a sense of hope that drives ‘Promises’ forward.
If there’s one criticism to make of ‘Another Year, Still Here’ it would be that they lyrics have a tendency to swing towards the average in terms of content, although there are some good moments. Overall, that minor criticism aside there is a lot here to enjoy that will appeal to those who like it when their music blurs the lines between radio friendly indie rock and unpolished punk.
CHRIS HILSON