Album Review: Downhill - This Is Our Progress EP

Dublin's Downhill are a five piece who have have played alongside Winch House, Save Your Breath and The Wonder Years, as well as extensively touring their homeland (Ireland).

Their latest offering, 'This Is Our Progress' is a four track EP that essentially does exactly what it says on the front cover. We’re given a taste of who this band are and what they’re capable of, before leaving you wanting a bit more, just to see if they’re a band worth holding on to.

First track “Intro” is just that, 30 seconds of power chords that effortlessly ease you into the next song. It’s fast and upbeat and definitely leaves you wanting more, although I do think that it would work better as an introduction for the next song and not an introduction, as shown, for the EP as a whole.

Next track 'Worst Situations'takes the intro and uses it to build up a fast paced, catchy beginning, the musicianship in general is flawless, the guitar work is almost perfect, the vocals do seemingly suffer, most likely from a lack of studio time, resulting in a quiet and unpolished sound that hinders the song from potentially great to just alright. It’s a positive sounding song that leaves you nodding your head in satisfaction, ready to take on the next one.

This band excel at writing a good introduction to a song and next track ‘Home’ is no exception, the bass is a prominent feature this time, showing off the evident talent this band has. However, the vocals again let it down, while sounding unfinished in the previous song, with this song they sound strained and out of tune, especially in the chorus and outro, it’s almost as if the singer is trying to reach notes he just can’t achieve. The main bulk of the song however is still very good, it has a great variety in the verse while still maintaining a fast pace with a killer chorus to boot

The mood is calmed down with final track 'Always On The Run' with an intro almost reminiscent of early Matchbook Romance, we are eased into a song that obviously finds the band at their best. The vocals are brought down to a tone that the singer can reach, and again the guitars, drums and bass are flawless. The chorus is massive, yet a bit on the repetitive side.

Downhill are a band that are doing what a lot of other bands are doing at the moment, only they do it with a lot more conviction and style. The potential is evident for anyone to see, they just have to iron out a few creases to get there.

3/5

'This Is Our Progress' EP by Downhill is available now from the bands online store here.

Downhill on MySpace

Chris Marshman