EP Review: Say Yes – Say Yes
2 min read
“Whatever opportunity presents itself, no matter what it is, you will say yes” implores an eery voiceover on the first track of Say Yes’s debut EP. What follows are a bunch of songs that will make you say yes to speeding down a highway on a motor cycle, moshing at a rock concert or doing anything to make you more bad-ass.
Yes, Say Yes –a band fifteen years in the making- have proven that it is still possible to successfully channel the spirits of iconic 90s hard rock bands.
The Toronto-based trio all hail from bands experienced in wreaking musical havoc – brought together by ex-drummer for Alexisonfire, Jordan Hastings. Most tracks on the EP are dominated by the piercing growls of electric guitars, injecting tracks with a raw adrenaline. To See the World sees the band begin to explore sounds that aren’t purely aggressive – opening with a mesmerising picking of a fuzzy sounding electric guitar. This serves as the prelude to an eery lullaby that eventually sends the listener plummeting back into an abyss of brutal guitar wails, made more dramatic by Adam Michael’s opera-quality vocals.
Similarly, Euphoria experiments with this contrast between hazy instrumentals and vicious, generic hard-rock choruses. The EP’s final track epitomises the bands potential to really develop their musical style away from being purely infatuated with sounding as hardcore as possible. The opening leaves you drifting almost serenely in a fog of distorted guitar, lulled further into this reverie by Michael’s vocals. This stillness is completely shattered by the poignant wails of the electric guitars –igniting the angsty fervor that permeates every other track on the EP. Halfway through the six-minute musical adventure, the hazy reverie returns fleetingly, preparing listeners for the classic, hard rock finale – reminiscent of the work of old-school Muse.
Say Yes’s debut is too loud and energised for it to be released without making a significant splash in the musical world. Hence, I must say– yes this band definitely has the potential to go places.
