Holding Tides EP Review

Holding Tides - Last of the Small Town Heroes - EP Review

“For their début work, ‘Last Of The Small Town Heroes’, Holding Tides have taken existing songs and reworked them with new lyrics, riffs and drumbeats to create a more gritty and dynamic sound.”
This is a small section from the press text that I have read. Since I have personally never heard this band before, I thought this would be a great opportunity to get my teeth in and give this band a listen. This kind of debut shows that they have pure dedication to their music and to the band, and that they are willing to make a change for better.
The EP opens up with a series of radio interferences and news headlines. News reporters speak of the city being under attack in the first track – ‘The Emergency Broadcast’. Straight after comes a hard riff that is sure to get any rocker's head banging. Without holding anything back, they come through with a strong power ballad which almost sounds as if they are trying to make a statement about themselves.
As the EP progresses, it begins to simmer down a bit, which helps get their message across clearer. It's as if it’s saying "right, now they have been hit with a big opener, now let's turn down a notch for a bit." I feel that if this is the case, they have done the right thing in doing so. The 3rd and 4th track – ‘Grace by Green’ and ‘Paraffin’ - let the listener relax a bit and just take it all in. You begin to easily understand the meaning behind them as you “feel” the song.
Half way through, there is an unexpected interlude track, simply titled ‘Interlude’. Although it does come out of the blue, it is very well put together and it really compliments the band. Saying that, the interlude does somewhat differ to the rest of the other songs in the track list. I'm not saying that it is a bad thing (in many ways it's a very good thing because it works really well), I'm just saying, keep your ears open and your mind free for this; if you don't pay attention you might miss it.
As the album comes to a close, it finishes with an explosion of good riffs and classic rhythms. Just like the start of the album, their ending track is another broadcast - the final broadcast.
Overall, I think this is a good band to go and check out. They have lots of potential and they are going to go places, without a doubt.
- Jason