ninehertz

Either the CDs I get given to review are getting shorter or I'm getting older. First Kamajor, Dirty Blood and now this, with four songs clocking in at a mere 11 minutes. Soon I'll just be handed a 5p sized CD containing something similar to the super condensed music similar to that listened to by cake addicts in the drugs episode of 'Brass Eye'. Anyway, this is something of an oddity. Not exactly the usual ninehertz fare, My Own Flag have a little bit of everything thrown in to produce a sound that they boys from Bristol could probably safely call their own. They even list grunge influences in their bio, but thankfully this doesn't involve much more than some Gavin Rossdale style vocals.

Still, it starts off with a very nice Tool-esque bass line on opening track '16 Ways', a odd, lo-fi number based on a simple start-stop dynamic. It may be a one-idea song, but it's a great idea and it's a brilliant opener to the disc. Sadly, the EP flags slightly in the middle. A couple of start-stop songs that are fairly difficult to tell apart bar from the jazzy interlude in 'Botox.' Things improve with closer 'Binary', a more straight ahead rock number that's much more suited to these pages, but while Meatloaf will gladly tell you that 2 out of 3 aint bad, 2 out of 4 is pushing it.

It's difficult to tell what the band are like from such a brief release, and unless you live in Bristol it seems unlikely you'll see them play live any time soon. Still, we live in hope, (well, Sheffield actually,) that the boys can find their way up the M1 and they'll be able to spread themselves around a little more, as they come across like they'd be a great live band and it'd be nice to hear something more from them, hopefully a live show and the promised full length release next year. A few more songs like '16 Ways,' and I'd be a fan for sure. Until then, it's back to the practice room for a little longer.