Reviewed by David Cranson

A seven-track mini-album from the promising newcomers. Their website reads, "Lowdrive are young a guitar 3-piece from Coventry. They are Steve Jones (guitar and vocals), Greg Schofield (bass, vocals and keys) and Tim Bowes (drums). At times they produce fierce and powerful songs, with full-on big rock choruses, yet they are also comforting with soft spoken verses and sleepy guitars. You can never be entirely sure where each song is going to take you, but you are fully prepared to go along for the ride. Fierce songs with intricate guitar and drum parts, combining to bring a glowing smile to the face of the listener. As well as being able to casually fire out some of the finest, infectious pop-rock songs you are likely to hear, Lowdrive also prove that they can bring things down to another, quieter level, and still sound as powerful. Lowdrive's sound owes as much to each member's very diverse tastes as it does to bands like Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Doves and Radiohead." Being acoustic, this collection of songs does not produce the fierce and powerful songs, it's more in the laid back Coldplay vein, rather than Dave Grohl's outfit. The vocals are plaintive, the instrumentation is very good and they seem to be very much into what they are doing. Sometimes the harmony doesn't quite work, especially on "When I Need You", and oft-times the songs seem to grind to a slow and painful halt, but this can be a good thing, sometimes, drawing the listener in. I'd like to hear them plugged in and rocking it up a bit, which, according to other sources, they seem to be able to do. Meanwhile this is a low-down and laidback addition to their collection.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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