Album Review: Scarlet Grey - Fancy Blood

Scarlet Grey are a American Pop-Rock band, who have worked with AFI’s Davey Havok, who also did some guest vocals for the mini-album. They've even toured with the veteran rockers. Pop-Rock is a tricky one for me, because sometimes I can really like it, and there are a few guilty pleasures I'd rather not mention to many....

The opening track ('No Boys In The Ballroom') is full of energy, and has a very old-school punk aesthetic, similar to the kind of music you'd hear on games like Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2 back in the day. The chorus even has the customary chants that the crowd can get involved in.

'Fancy Blood' is an interesting one, because the first half is whispered catchy lyrics about being on stage, but the actual lyrics are just a bit strange, and then there is also some odd breathing sounds which I thought just made it a bit too cheesy. It redeems itself towards the end with a great breakdown with strings and reverb-soaked vocals, that comes back with a repeating phrase. 'Naomi' is a lighter number, with a very skippy chorus, vocal harmonies and a synth line that is sure to make people sing along. The EP ends on a great track, one of the best in my opinion, with and epic chorus and nice, simple vocals.

This is solid pop rock, with very catchy sing-along choruses, but for me it becomes a bit predictable and overly cheesy at times, with things like breathing sounds just throwing me off now and again.

3/5

'Fancy Blood' by Scarlet Grey is available now.

Scarlet Grey on MySpace

Mark Allen