The Night Suns are a London based, Alt Rock band who are about to release their EP ‘Humans’.
Before listening to this EP I decided to make a conscious effort NOT to look at the band’s Facebook page, to see whether I could figure out the band’s influences for myself as Alt Rock can mean anything these days. As soon as I started listening the first things that came to my mind were ‘Grunge’ and ‘Queens of the Stone Age’. Upon checking out the Facebook page it seemed my instincts were correct as both of these things are listed as influences for the band.
So, it appears the band wear their influences on their sleeves, which is no bad thing! I love how in today’s music scene everything is cyclical and loads of different genres can all be popular at the same time and I’ve definitely noticed a resurgence of interest in grunge music over the last few years.
However most bands I’ve seen in this new grunge movement have normally incorporated grunge with another style such as pop punk (see Basement) whereas The Night Suns have remained grunge purists and have released a concentrated grunge onslaught that still manages to incorporates modern undertones making it fitting for 2018.
The EP is just three songs long, making it a bit on the short side and runs for just over 12 minutes. This makes most songs over four minutes long, which, to the benefit of the band, never feel like they drag on for too long which can often be a downfall for a lot of smaller bands. The songs on this EP are written and performed well enough that it keeps the listener interested for the whole experience.
The release kicks off with ‘Smoke’ which is my personal favourite on the EP. The song doesn’t hold back and gets to the point straight away by jumping in head first with a groovy guitar riff and ear bending progressions which wouldn’t be out of place on an Alice in Chains song. The vocals join the mix pretty quickly and immediately make me think of Scott Weiland and strangely a bit of Liam Gallagher. This song definitely sets the scene for the whole EP and shows that the band mean business. The song is well written and from the get go the production sounds very professional. I’m a huge fan of the synths/atmospheric background sounds The Night Suns incorporate into their songs. They give their grunge rock sound a modern edge and the listener an extra layer you might not have gotten from your typical 90s alt rock band. The song writing is decent, throwing in short solos and cool vocal hooks while also being able to seamlessly slip into nice atmospheric sections which are dripping in reverb without being too jarring. The outro riff is spectacular, heavy as balls and ear crushing. I bet it goes down well when played live and is a side of The Night Suns that I really like and I wish they incorporated more into their music.
On my first listen the second track ‘My Blood is Cold’ was my favourite song. The eerie guitar riff accompanied by the spooky synths and vocals really set a mood and gripped me as a listener. The chorus for this song is good but upon further listens it kind of feels like it comes out of nowhere and for me ended up being a bit jarring. Maybe a bit more lead up into it would’ve transitioned better for me. To reiterate though, the chorus is great, the vocal hook is catchy and is the bit that stayed with me the most after I’d finished listening to the EP. I often found myself humming the vocal lines while I was out and about. To me, it feels like this chorus sums up what The Night Suns are about and is what I’d show to people if I was introducing them to the band. The second verse is the same as the first in terms of instrumentation and a bit more variation might’ve been nice here to keep the listener engaged. However the second chorus changes up slightly by throwing in some shouted backing vocals quietly in the background which once again shows us The Night Sun’s heavier side. There’s a nice build up after the chorus which gets the listener pumped before the song drops out and eventually pays off with a heavier variation of the main riff which has played though the song. Again, I’m sure this goes down well in the pit.
‘Human’ the closing song is my second favourite on the album. The opening vocal melody is lovely and the guitar is cool too. It reminds me a bit of early Foo Fighters mixed with newer Foo Fighters. The ‘I am guilty so are you’ takes the band back to being more classic grunge and kind of reminds me a bit of Nirvana. A gripe I have with this song are the vocals in the first verse. To me it feels a bit like the singer is holding back a little bit and not delivering the lyrics with as much urgency as he could do or has done in previous tracks. The mixing also feels a bit different to the other tracks and the vocals sort of lose their signature feel. The chorus in this song is a gem though, with the synths being a standout point for me. They follow a simple melody but contribute a lot to the overall sound and I feel like they hold the whole chorus together. The vocals in the chorus are also some of the best delivered throughout the EP. During this song the band’s song writing formula becomes clear and almost feels a bit tired. The structure is obviously a tried and tested formula but for me I like it when bands mix it up a bit and I feel like The Night Suns could benefit from a bit of variation. I loved the build down in the ending of the song which leaves the listener with just the synths, perfectly winding down the EP.
The Night Suns prove to us on this EP that they’re more than capable song writers and have written some catchy, modern day grunge/alt rock tunes that can be both melodic and crunchy when they need to be. They have developed their own unique sound by incorporating synths and eerie, atmospheric progressions with 90s grunge/alt rocks vibes to twist the listeners ears at times and keep things interesting. The deliveries of all the performances on the whole are very good and the production felt very professional. The only disappointing aspects of the EP are that the song structures can feel a bit tired and predictable at times but to be fair the same structures have worked for plenty of bands before, so maybe I’m being a bit harsh. The other disappointing aspect is a bit of a double ended complement in that The Night Suns prove they can expertly craft crunchy and heavy riffs throughout their songs but I feel like they end up being a bit of a cock tease as they’re not explored or incorporated into the EP as much as I would’ve liked.
I look forward to following The Night Suns throughout their career and I look forward to their future releases (hopefully with more heavy riffs!)
7/10 - Review by Matt S
FFO; Queens of the Stone Age, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains.
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