Athlete - 'Westside EP' (Regal)
4/5
By: Toby L
Lurking from within the Regal Recordings label - home of The Beta Band and Orange Can - Athlete's new EP is testament to the buzz which stirred at the end of 2001. Well called for, the initial excitement aroused then should still be floating in the air once this hits shelves across the country.
Traditionally, the format of EP's is there to provide a taste of an artist's ability and style; seemingly, Athlete are traditionalists for this reason alone.
Their three tracks range in the lo-fi splendour found elsewhere within other acts on their label, yet the group also merge a notion of slightly more marketable songwriting. This is done so in the form of infectious refrains - namely 'Wherever you go, everyone wants to be part of the rock scene' on lead-track 'Westside' - and just sheer oddness - take the reverberating bass and chunky chorus of 'Dungeness', for instance. However, the pick of the bunch could be final number 'One of Those Days', a mellow, subtle and warming track which immediately halts before it really has a chance to take off.
Bearing in mind their cynical lyrics over everyone else wanting to be a part of 'the rock scene', there's an irony here - because this group has got the chance to be at the forefront of it. Yes, true to their name, Athlete have the potential to stride ahead over a lot of their competition.
Artists in this article: Athlete
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