Evermore are a band with quite a CV. A platinum album, an MTV Award, songs being featured on the Australian version of the O.C, and having long-time Nirvana/Foo-Fighters recording partner, Barrette Jones jumping on board to produce the band’s debut album. Not bad for a bunch of young New Zealanders. With all these credits to their name, and the band still being only just fresh out of their teens as well, you would be forgiven for thinking that they really were something special. You would be mistaken.
Musically, the band err side of Eskimo Joe or Bloc Party, with vocals reminiscent of an early Muse, but even this accolade fails to impress. Their single ‘It’s Too Late’ was a frequent top-player on Australian radio, and it shows. The song is tired, tedious and strained, with the droning, repetitive vocals of singer, Jon Hume only exaggerating the limitations of their precocious musical ability; the droning collision of instruments clashing haphazardly together an untimely reminder of their tender years as musicians. It’s not a ‘mature’ sound exactly, but it’s complex and flamboyant enough to warrant the comparisons forged by their press office to the likes of Snow Patrol and Embrace – the teenage angst that defines many of their contemporaries literally melting in the gentle melancholy of ‘Everyone (Moving On)’ and ‘Dreams Call Out To Me’.
‘Dreaming…Part 2’ proves to be the turning point in what would otherwise have been an awkward recording. Reminiscent of The Beatles, with a lyrical approach striking back to the days of Pink Floyd, ‘Dreaming…Part 2’ confirms that imitation the highest form of flattery, and although monotony prevails elsewhere, it is a satisfying interval.
It’s an album crammed to the gills with tedium but there’s enough inventiveness to suggest that the future could be devilishly bright for the lads from down under.