Issue 26 of Stencil Mag

The Moderates - Colour This young unsigned trio from California have released their debut EP, 'Colour' and are looking to prove they have created a unique sound for themselves to unveil to the world..

The EP kicks off with single, 'Strange Town' with slow melodic sounds and low unique vocals, before diving into the loud and fast chorus; all the while the band clearly are having fun and inject honest passion into their different alt rock pop sound! 'Where Are You' showcases further Josh's powerful and superb vocals, accompanied by ambient and resonant guitars, which are great melodic upbeat instruments and an acoustic section further in, which is well structured and beautiful along with the lyrics! 'Inescapable You' has a more melancholic vibe especially through the lyrics and vocal delivery. But with catchy instruments and beats to give a more optomistic hopeful sound to compliment. Again here especially we see more of the bands emotion and honesty which makes for a brilliant track and shows their maturity and musicianship.

'Black and White' contains great melodies, rhythms and meaningful lyrics and again is more downbeat without being depressing, but more driven and a vent of raw passion and mix of emotions. The use of high pitched backing vocals to contrast Josh's main vocals works well for emphasis and power, and towards the end the backing chants help close on a big and powerful note!

Closing the EP we have, 'Coma' which has a different sound to other tracks, it has more of a classic rock 'n' roll vibe which they pull off well with wonderful bass lines, guitar licks and perfectly placed vocals to match the beats. The chorus is a particular highlight building in volume and depth, all resulting in a very memorable and groovy one to end on! The band show they can strut their stuff in many ways and create different vibes, all the while embracing elements of different genres, but maintaining their own unique sound!

This is a wondeful debut EP from this young three piece act, displaying maturity almost behind their years through their impressive song writing abilities and honest and well written lyrics, all stamped with their own unique sound! Any band that can produce their own brand of music certainly deserves praise and recognition, and I think its only a matter of time before the band are in receipt of this massively! The Moderates are one up and coming act to watch out for!! CL