Waves is the debut EP from Phoenix Calling and as far as melodic rock goes, it isn’t bad. The main problem with this genre is that it’s difficult to make your band stand out from the crowd because there’s so many bands doing the exact same thing as you, so it means your songs need to have that extra sparkle to fully grab your interest.
Waves certainly isn’t a difficult release to get into and features some great little sing-along numbers that are easy on the ears but the problem is that none of them quite stick in your head.
There are good elements in all of the songs, from the soft vocals of opener Everybody Knows right through to Bring The Roof Down, which brings the EP to a relaxed close but it just feels like the band could give more. Whilst it doesn’t seem unfinished, it’s just not all too exciting and Phoenix Calling have basically played it very safe with this one. It would have been nice to see one of the tracks take an unexpected twist or have a little more differentiation between the songs because unfortunately, they’re all fairly similar to one another.
All in all, you won’t find any surprises on Waves but there is certainly potential here so it’ll be interesting to hear what their next release will be like. It’s definitely a good starting point for the band, at least.
6/10
