Smudge - StayFeelRegret EP

Let’s be honest, Smudge is hardly a captivating name; in fact it is rather an apt name for the household cat. Yet all faith is restored when it is discovered that the band derive inspiration from Blink 182, with the pop-rock cacophony of guitars, drums, epic choruses and mesmerising hooks that mould together to create a sound that oozes vitality.

Altogether their sound is reminiscent of an American team movie, wherby the plot is dramatised to capture the lives of teams with various dilemmas normally ranging on a small scale from teenage love to teenage angst. How terrible. Opening track Flat-Line is the problematic beginning, full of rage and sultry vocals which even sounds more suited to the other side of the Atlantic rather than Britain.

Contrasting to the mountain of dilemmas of your average teen, StayFeelRegret is the comparison of a love song with a bit of edge, images of girls screaming to their lungs until they are bruised and battered are created as the image of crazy fans singing in unision filter through your mind. Furthemore, track ‘Lock+Load’ is the complimeting soundtrack as the credits crawl up the screen; it is this song that proves themselves worthy of playing alongside major bands The Used and Aiden at Taste Of Chaos, providing them with the respect that had persuaded 500 people to turn up in their home town Wigan to support the signing of the record label Animal Farm.

Do Smudge have the talent and determination to expand further than the boundaries of the UK, maybe into American soil, the birthplace of that band that gave them their determination? Maybe. The future’s just as clear as a smudge on a piece of paper - it’s up to them whether they want to make it legible.

22.09.08 // The Animal Farm

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