Elliot Minor: Solaris
Wednesday, 21, Oct 2009 04:44
Repossesion Records, out now.
In a nutshell...
String-laden pop-punk antics.
What's it all about?
Pop-rockers Elliot Minor are back with this second, eyeliner-stained collection of catchy melodic punk. Factor in a soaring string section for added melodrama.
Who's it by?
Schoolmates Alex Davies and Ed Minton (vocals, guitars and strings) formed the band as a duo, before being joined by brothers Dan and Ed Hetherton (drums and bass) and Ali Paul (keyboards). Moody photoshoots and emo haircuts are all present and correct and only slightly undermined by the fact their big break came through winning a competition to support McFly back in 2006.
As an example...
"Take me higher, take me high/I wanna feel your essence come to life/Electric high, electric high." - Electric High
What the others say
"Elliot Minor, as poppy and sugar-sweet as they may be, can write fantastic songs." - www.punktastic.com
"Elliot Minor sound a bit like the lovechild of McFly and My Chemical Romance." - BBC Music
So is it any good?
If you can see past Elliot Minor's posey image and don't mind the odd hackneyed lyric, there's a surprisingly fun album to be found here. With Something Corporate listed amongst their primary influences, tracks like Coming Home and lead single Electric High capture that band's perky melodies perfectly. Indeed, with Alex Davies belting out a mid-Atlantic drawl throughout, you could be forgiven for thinking the now-defunct Californian rockers were back together.
A lot of the hype surrounding Elliot Minor makes reference to their oft-lauded 'classical training'. In reality the orchestral arrangements that pepper Solaris' 12 tracks are little more than window dressing for the bubblegum-sweet pop-rock at the album's core. For the most part it's a recipe that serves them well, with the notable exception of Better Than The Courtroom which sails dangerously close to Busted territory. The sickly piano ballad All Along is another bum note, with Davies' vocals beginning to grate when the spiky guitars are stripped away.
On the whole though, it's good infectious fun, despite the sneaking suspicion that the band are taking things all a little more seriously than they ought to. A skilfully crafted pop record then, but one that isn't likely to win over anyone of drinking age.
6/10
George Wales