Comparing themselves to a few well-known bands, Those Who Knew may have missed the boat a bit with the Paramore and Biffy Clyro comparisons. They don’t have the thrilling pop punk or the dominant stadium rock of either; instead they find themselves in the vein of Lower Than Atlantis and You Me At Six. At some point we need to admit that bands in this space sound incredibly similar. Those Who Knew are no different.
‘Losing Touch’ begins with a predictable, extended note but the song has moments of clarity when lead vocalist Danny Graves pierces the haze of racing guitars and steady drumming with his crisp melodies, particularly towards the end. The lyrics are clichéd but fans of this genre will lap them up. The slowed down second minute allows the listener to stop, take a breath and reflect on what they’ve heard but unfortunately, it’s nothing we haven’t heard before.
A trudging, gloomier effort, ‘Shadow In The Sea’ merges into ‘Seventeen’. There isn’t anything differentiating between the songs, or in the grand scheme of this scene. There’s no inspirational lyric or moment of melody that encourages an emotional reaction. Final track ‘Nothing Left To Lose’ sounds incredibly similar to Lower Than Atlantis; it even sounds like Mike Duce is singing at times.
Those Who Knew began as a cover band, playing in their locals. Although their branch into original music isn’t bad, it’s not very interesting either. At some point we’ll have to acknowledge the banality of radio-friendly alternative bands and accept that music like this won’t light a fire in your belly. ‘New Perspective’? There’s none to be found here.
KATHRYN BLACK