Drawing favourable self-comparisons to bands such as Jimmy Eat World and Limbeck in a review request is a fantastic way to grab my attention. It’s a dangerous game though and more often than not bands drop way short of my initial expectations. Chicago’s Yes Or No are the latest to try their hand at this game with their debut EP ‘This State’.
Opening with leading single ‘Do It Anyway’ gives a good first impression though. It’s driven emo-rock with very listenable vocals and a great drum beat running throughout. It does perhaps lack a really killer lyric in the chorus for it to be a single but it’s solid enough. From there ‘Twenty Days’ and ‘I Wanted Out’ really kick the release on as we have well-crafted guitar work mixed perfectly with a simple yet effective bass line.
The title track, ‘This State’, is a poppy effort and initially the vibe doesn’t work as well with the rest of the EP, in particular with the deep instrumental in ‘…Will Consume Us’ that follows. However on the third or fourth listen the change of focus is actually pretty welcome and it’s good to hear the hint of female vocals that come through too.
If ‘Do It Anyway’ was a good opening track then ‘Fireworks’ is an excellent closing track and perhaps the band’s most accomplished. It reminds me heavily of the band Mae as the soft vocals build into a really life affirming chorus and bridge to see out the release.
There’s plenty of raw potential here and in truth you do certainly hear ‘Clarity’ era Jimmy Eat World coming through in these tracks. ‘This State’ is hopefully a good insight into what Yes Or No will grow into and I’m already eagerly anticipating their next release. A firm YES from me.
TOM BECK