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Sycophant - EP Review: Pop Frog

28 Mar 2020 // A review by Epitomised_Drummer

Today I'm on Covid-19 lockdown, which has given me the opportunity to give you my spin on Sycophant's brand new EP Pop Frog. I've been listening to this EP on and off for a week to find the accurate words to describe, and here's my thoughts.

Track number one Glacial Decay is actually my favourite from the EP. It's super late 90's grunge with doubled vocals, power chords, and a driving beat that's perfect head nod tempo. It's got some awesome squealy bits layered over what sounds like ripped jeans and cigarette smoke combined. 

It’s Not OK. Seems absolutely fitting during these dark times, doesn’t it? This is their brand new single, and it’s very weezer-ish. Fitting the usual rock mould, It’s Not OK is little a bit pop-punk-ish and a little bit reminiscent of the early 2000’s.

Kicking off with a dominant bassline, Connor Hardy's voice layers over the top, with a nice four on the floor. The tune breaks into a slightly heavier pre-chorus and then back into another verse. It almost has an element of White Stripes, if you listen carefully.

The guitar solo is probably my favourite part of the track – It’s grungy as all hell. Vocals get a little more intense over the next chorus and throughout the rest of the tune. Personally I think the tune could have benefited from being a whole lot faster which would give it more of a punchier edge - it feels like it drags a little, and could probably have some screamy screams added in for that extra edge, but that’s just my personal opinion (and I am a rock/punk guy from way back).

Mercenary is track three, the highlight here is the killer bassline. It's cool! very cool. There's a few little guitar eloquencies here which transform the song from a basic 3 chord into something with a bit more grit.

Worry Girl and Girl You Make Me High are the last two tracks on the EP, and they follow the same sort of format but Girl You Make Me High is a little bit Everclear-ish, if I was going to familiarize it to something I've heard along the way. 

Initially after hearing It's Not OK on its own I had a picture of Sycophant being a bit one dimensional, but after listening to the EP in full, I'm definitely a lot more impressed. There has been quite a lot of thought put into track order and song selection.

Overall, Sycophant have done a really good job with this EP and I'm looking forward to seeing where they'll progress to from here. I'd love to hear some faster stuff, but once again, my personal opinion. Nice work!

Rating: ( 3 / 5 )
 

About Sycophant

Kia Ora, we’re Sycophant – a 3-piece alternative rock trio from Wellington. We’ve released our latest song It’s Not OK in early 2020, and it’s gained more than 20,000 listens in its first couple of weeks of being released and has been picked up for radio airplay in South Africa.




Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Sycophant

Releases

Pop Frog
Year: 2020
Type: EP

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