Album Review: Apologies, I Have None - Two Sticks & Six Strings EP

If you are reading this review and are a fan of the much loved band Against Me then I might as well save you a bit of time and tell you that these are going to be your new favourite band so go buy this release right now. Right, now that’s out of the way let’s get down to a proper review. Apologies, I Have None, despite having only a five song EP previous to this, are my ninth most listened to band according to Last.fm, which gives you an idea of just how good I think this band is.

For those of you who don’t know much about this band, they are a two-piece that have gained a pretty substantial following armed with just a guitar, drums and a whole lot of woah-oh’s/gang vocals/handclaps and have the reputation of being two of the nicest blokes in music, they even apologised that I paid £4 for this release rather than getting it for free because I was reviewing it.

The EP kicks off with ‘100 Club’ which is a track that pretty much sums up what this band are all about. The song is upbeat and positive with it’s lyrics of; ‘you can’t deny a hundred fists in the sky’ and believe me, if there’s any band that can get a hundred fists in the sky then this is it.

Next up is a personal highlight of pervious EP 'Done' and without a doubt my favourite Apologies, I have none song ‘Bent Strings.’ I’m not going to lie, I don’t like this new version as much as I loved the previous version, but that’s just me being an elitist fan who can’t accept change, because this is a better song musically, it’s tighter, and despite losing some of it’s bite has kept it’s woah-oh’s.

‘Green Green Mabley Green’ is next up and it brings back the acoustic guitar that was so apparent in the first EP, I’d say the song wouldn‘t sound out of place on ‘Reinventing Axl Rose' if it wasn‘t for the glockenspiel making an appearance at the end. ’Apologies, I have one’ is definitely my favourite song on the EP, not much to say aside from the fact it’s near perfection.

The EP ends in the same fashion it started with 'Rearranging The Dust’ and again it’s upbeat, positive, has all the aspects that make this band so special, to top it all off just as you think the EP has came to a finish they bring in handclaps and more gang vocals, it couldn’t be a more perfect end.

To be honest, I really can’t rate this release highly enough, and I just hope that everyone reading this ends up feeling the same way that I do about this band. Even if this EP doesn’t propel this band into the mainstream, it’ll propel them into my top five on Last.fm and that’s good enough for me.

5/5

For songs and info on to how to purchase this EP head to: www.myspace.com/apologiesihavenone

Daniel Ferguson