Drawcard, who I thought were called ‘Goons Ltd’ (I admit, I wanted to review them to remind myself of happier times), are another pop-punk/alternative rock/whatever band – think Paramore, 30 Seconds To Mars – this time hailing from Brisbane. Unfortunately, and I say this a lot about the modern world, there’s not muchnewto Drawcard’s sound – it’s all been done before.
However, these fellas really aren’t too bad. Throughout my art philosophy classes at uni, the idea of measuring art against the artist’s intentions and ambition seemed pretty legit to me. In that light, Goons Ltd is really good. There’s spades of ‘pop’ – every song on this EP is a big sing-along. For a young band, Drawcard have really nailed down their songwriting and melodic capabilities. It’s really hard to single out a highlight, as they’re all pretty equal, but ‘The Bridge’ and ‘The Next Time’ were personal favourites.
Whilst the ‘pop’ dominates, the ‘punk’ and ‘rock’ qualities are given their chance to show off as the melodies take a breather, and excel at every turn, with hints of grunge and metal also thrown in.
These blokes have gone out to make pop-punk and they’ve managed to throw out five brilliant songs. I’m not enamoured with this genre, but they got me jiving.
4/5.
Goons Ltd is out now throughMGM.
