Storm Society - Miles Away

Listen carefully: pay attention to the dark guitar parts, soaked in reverb, plucking cleanly in staccato rhythms or jangling loosely around in the choruses; the drums, way way back in the mix, unobtrusively back-boning the songs with simple patterns; the bleak Northern proto-gothic vocals, intoning self-reflective laments of loss and confusion. It's spacious, rich, well produced and well performed. But you've heard it before, and you know it. This is the moody 80's gloom of Curtis-era Joy Division with a side serving of Johnny Marr, as seen more recently through the fresh new lens of Editors. Allow me to reiterate – it's a perfectly competent and crafted clutch of songs. If we hadn't all been blown away by 'The Back Room' a few years back, we'd probably be getting quite excited about the Storm Society on the basis of this EP. But as things stand, the most you can say about them is that they do a great imitation of an innovatory band. If they can bring something unique to the party, something truly their own, they've doubtless got the talent to take it somewhere. Until they discover their unique selling point, they're going to have to be content to be "that band that sound just like the Editors".