Be open minded is one of our esteemed editor’s mantras and I like to think of myself as a fairly open minded kind of guy but finding out that Essex quintet Fei Comodo see themselves as a “collective” sent a chill through my bones. Pretentious art students and avant-garde film makers join collectives. Belle and Sebastian/ Tompaulin type fey indie shoe gazers join collectives but surely not proper rock bands? Rant over, let’s listen… 

Hmm. I tried, I really did but this just doesn’t cut it for me. I appreciate that Fei Comodo are young and clearly possess some talent but I was severely tempted to give this an Angels and Airwaves style zero but, taking into account their tender age I chose not to.  

Stylistically this four track EP is all over the place in particular on the opening cut which is also the title track. There’s some Sikth in there, some Less Than Jake style ska and some screaming. Mr Tune doesn’t really turn up at any point on this song nor indeed on any of the others. 

This could be part of their problem as the last cut is an acoustic version of Regards. Perhaps the Comodo are trying to prove that they can do it all but on an EP it’s a bit too much. In their press release the band claim to be influenced by Iron Maiden, Coheed and Cambria, Bon Jovi (!), SikTh and 36 Crazyfists which is all well and good but doesn’t appear to have been translated into nicking the good bits of those bands.

Bobby Marshall and A Riot to Remember make up the middle section of the EP. Both of these feature nauseatingly whiny mid Atlantic vocals and are really quite horrible. Harsh, but fair! 

In terms of constructive criticism I would suggest that the band stop trying to show off, write some tunes with some actual melody and celebrate their Englishness rather than try to fit in with the in crowd.

Let us know your views on 'This One's For Us'

Track List

This One's For Us
Bobby Marshall
Riot To Remember
Regards (acoustic)
 

Line Up

Marc Halls - Vocals
Will Philipson - Guitar
Mike Curtis - Guitar
Jay Styler - Bass
Rob Clemson - Drums