Grebo - Don't Just Do Something Stand There

  by Benjamin Howarth

published: 13 / 11 / 2002

Label: Sugar Shack
Format: CD

intro

Promising, but nevertheless mildly uninspiring punk pop from emerging figures on the UK's melodic punk scene

Grebo are emerging figures on the UK’s melodic punk scene. Although the American variety of punk-pop is highly commercialised and successful, British punk bands tend to have an equally dedicated fanbase, but to survive off the back of their own dedication. Though mainstream coverage is extremely rare, bands like 4FT Fingers, Lightyear, 5 Knuckle and the best of the lot, Capdown, are all selling out gigs across the country as we speak. This bodes well for bands like Grebo, who can hope to establish themselves by playing gigs with these bands. The hard graft approach hasn’t got the bands space in magazines, but, trust me, if you go outside London, these bands are far more popular with music fans than any of the so called Future Rock ‘N’ Roll bands. Grebo’s debut album is full of promise. It demonstrates a lot of their strengths.They have great melodies and bouncy and strong rhythms. None of the songs are weak and an obvious enthusiasm shines throughout . Sadly, however, although they clearly have talent, they haven’t really broken much new ground. The production is also unsophisticated, with the drum sound being far too high up in the mix . For serious students of the punk scene this is an entertaining listen. I’m sure we’ll here more from Grebo in the future, but for the more casual listener, there are a lot of better young bands around whose records you should probably concentrate on first.

Track Listing:-