Review Summary: A fantastic first EP that combines both the beautiful with a few rather dark moments.
The debut EP from Cruiser is an EP that manages to, within thirty seconds, establish its own identity within a genre that is usually plagued by every band sounding exactly the same. From their Snow Patrol sounding verse guitar to a soaring chorus, and the vocals that sound very much like those from L7, this artist manages to make a very fun pop rock release, but one that is rather flawed. This is a five track EP clocking in at 18 minutes, containing two guest appearances, with one song being an acoustic re-hash of an earlier track. This is a one-man project, using the usual rock setup of bass, drums, guitar and vocals, with some keyboard at times. The person responsible for this EP is Adrien Cochrane, who is clearly extremely talented, as found across each of the five songs on here.
The best thing about this album is the vocal work. They are very youthful and fun enough to listen to, being overly nasally, but working very well within the context of the lyrics. The chorus to This Song's For You is the best vocals on the EP, containing some nicely multi-tracked vocals that really add to the album. The vocalist holds a long note just before the chorus that sounds very nice, but the whole thing is very well done. The extremely emotional introduction to the following song, The Day I've Missed You, has some more great vocal work, especially the lower notes before the guitar comes in. This is one of the best moments on the album, as it is a lot more diverse than the rest of the album.
The guitar solos are very fitting for the style of music on display here, at times carrying a Green Day feel to them. However, the best solo on the album is found on the first song, being extremely slow and simplistic, but completing the song in style, forming the perfect bridge for the song. The solo on This Song's For You is really well done as well, being considerably more complicated, but never sacrificing the fun feel to it. The rest of the guitar work to the EP may not be anything special, but it serves its purpose well to give the songs a solid backdrop.
Just Have A Little Faith is the worst song on the EP, having a very unnecessary guest appearance which leads to some rather poor vocal work. However, this song does have its redeeming feature, and that is the longing atmosphere found in the instrumental work. Instrumentally this is absolutely fantastic, and when the actual artist starts singing, it really does sound brilliant, as his voice fits this style of music very well, but the guest appearance's much lower voice does not go very well with it. This is a song about never giving up, and the lyrics are extremely heart felt, coupling really well with the dark instrumental.
The best track on the EP comes up last, being an acoustic version of This Song's For You, having another guest appearance, this time really adding to the song. The female vocals across this song work perfectly, particularly the second verse in which she takes solo vocals, showing off a very powerful voice, before the chorus, once again containing dual vocals, shows how well the two can work together. Adrien's high pitched voice coupled with her voice gives this song so much emotion it can not be described. The acoustic guitar work that backs this is very nice as well, although not quite as tight as the instrumental for the first version of this song. Overall, however, this comes together to be the best song on the EP by some stretch.
This is an EP that is very strong throughout, and is definitely a recommended listen for anyone who likes pop rock music. It has a lot of diversity, and even the weak guest appearance on Just Have A Little faith can be overlooked due to how well put together the atmosphere for that song is. This is certainly a project to look out for should any future projects be announced, and contains five very strong songs, each with their own individual message. Consider giving this one a listen, it wont disappoint.
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