Album Review: Undercast - 'Welcome Home'

From the moment the EP kicks off, it’s blatantly obvious the type of things that we can expect to hear on Undercast’s debut EP, ‘Welcome Home.’ The very first sounds that we greet us on ‘Keep It All’ showcase a lot of the influences you’d expect from a new pop punk band. The Story So Far, The Wonder Years, Man Overboard - it’s all there, and the band adds in just enough of their own spin on things to make it stand upon its own as well.

The EP’s singles, ‘Greenway’ and ‘Christopher Walken Fan Club’ show a lot of strength in the lead guitar parts, as well as the former showing a bit of dynamic play that adds a fair bit to the track. In comparison, the latter is the type of track that just comes in all guns blazing, and stays that way, barely giving you a moment to catch your breath, making it an obvious choice for the band to use as the lead single.

‘2 AM’ is the type of track that will inevitably go down well in a live setting, boasting a catchy chorus that is practically begging for a crowd to be singing along, while ‘Losing Touch’ sees vocalist Michael Cross closing out the album with what is arguably his best vocal performance of the whole EP.

For a debut EP, it follows an expected script - there are moments of promise, periods of solid delivery and parts where there is still obvious work to be done.

The sounds and ideas on ‘Welcome Home’ aren’t going to be blowing anyones minds - but in any debut EP, that’s exactly what we expect. The ideas are still formative, and the sound is still being perfected, but on ‘Welcome Home’, Undercast have marked themselves as a band that is certainly off to a flying start.

1. Keep It All
2. Greenway
3. Christopher Walken Fan Club
4. 2 AM
5. Losing Touch