If you are familiar with the popular 70s horror film ‘Halloween’ then you will recognise the name of this band as the home town of serial killer Michael Myers. With a shared love of horror films as a band, the links to the horror genre do not stop here as the band also have a track on this CD entitled ‘Romero’ lovingly dedicated to the great man George A. Romero who brought us the classic ‘Night Of The Living Dead’. Getting onto the music itself, Haddonfield play energetic fast and fun punk rock music and are very British in their sound which is always nice to find.
‘Bar Brawls & Downfalls’ kicks off well with the energetic ‘Panic’ which gives us a great introduction to the bands sound, leaving us wanting to hear more and interested to see what this young band can come up with. A problem with this opener however is that the recording quality here is not of the best standard with the levels sounding off at times and does leave you hoping that this will improve, which thankfully it does – however this one could do with being rerecorded really as I do feel that this does deteriorate from the quality of the track a bit. It is next track ‘Romero’ that impresses me the most here on this EP as not only does it have a fascinating subject matter, but it is also a great track which in my opinion portrays the band in their best light on this CD. Their passion for the horror genre really comes across here and this combined with the tracks fine lyrics and excellent chorus make for a very well rounded and complete sounding track. ‘Romero’ I feel could easily be released as a single and given the right backing would become a success.
Although ‘Romero’ is a clear favourite of mine on this EP, another track which impressed me here was closing track ‘Broke’ where the band show great skill in the tracks opening, moving on to finish the EP in style leaving me with a smile on my face as I listen. The band sound strong here and show that they are a force to be reckoned with. My only qualm with this one would be that it seems to finish the EP all too abruptly, however this also has its positive points as in the bands doing this we are left wanting for more and hungry to hear the bands next release which can never be a bad thing. What we have here are five fairly strong tracks showing some great ability from the band, proving
Haddonfield to be a powerful four piece with some crushing guitar riffs, strong drum beats, and superb choruses. They are clearly a band that keep their choruses in mind as throughout the EP they are always strong here, showing themselves to be extremely catchy and always leaving a lasting impression. Although not the best CD you are likely to hear this year, ‘Bar Brawls & Downfalls’ is an interesting release from a band that clearly have plenty of ideas and are very fresh sounding and extremely enthusiastic. With nearly 22 000 plays on their Myspace account, it is obvious to see that Haddonfield are a band who have built up quite a following and are provoking a strong interest with the music that they are putting out there. Standing tall at five tracks strong, this EP is likely to gain them plenty more gigs and fans over the coming months. Expect to see Haddonfield coming to a town near you in the not too distant future.
Label: Thousand Yard Stereo
Release Date: 19th March 2007
Rating:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
