The ability for bands to record, release, and promote their own EP or album through any of the many online platforms shows what is possible even if you don’t have a record label, magazine cover, or summer of festival appearances to boost your profile. Such an approach will hopefully open up a whole new potential fan base for The Smile Bunch, and those who do give ‘..But Do The Aliens Believe In Me?’ a listen will be impressed.
‘Kid Again’ is everything an opening song should be, and more. It immediately stamps The Smile Bunch’s style on the EP, but it doesn’t see them throw all their ideas at one song. Instead the melodic guitars and weaving keys build a hook that will get stuck in your head, whilst the sense of yearning for the simplicity of childhood found in the lyrics is like a well-aimed punch to the nostalgia gland.
‘It All Went Wrong’ is a confident follow-up that shifts through several styles, and remains emotionally exposed even though it’s dressed in a tougher sounding exterior that slightly distances itself from the listener. ‘The Weather Song’ is like taking current wave emo and condensing it down into two minutes and fifteen seconds. There’s a well conveyed sense of frustration in the lyrics and this is translated perfectly into the guitars which angrily thud around the crashing and discordant drumming.
Just when you think you’ve got The Smile Bunch figured out, they throw not one but two musical curveballs at you in a row. ‘The Fast Ones’ lives up to its name and the presence of a brass section makes it sound like you’re playing Blink 182 and Reel Big Fish on fast forward and at the same time. It’s definitely different and you have to applaud The Smile Bunch for trying something new even if it’s the song most likely to polarise opinion.
Sometimes when a band tries something different on almost every song of a release it sounds like an unorganised mess, but The Smile Bunch have avoided that trap, even though the one minute long ‘Congratulations You’ve Won! (Click Here To Claim Your Prize)’ is underwhelming for something so short.
‘Wicked No More’ bookends the EP well, and although it differs vastly lyrically, it feels like the counterpart to ‘Kid Again’. The strengths of ‘…But Do Aliens Believe In Me?’ vastly outnumber the one or two minor weaknesses, and the whole EP is full of the quality and craft that The Smile Bunch will undoubtedly continue to show on their debut album when it arrives.
CHRIS HILSON