Album Review: The Great Valley - 'Ruthless'

There have been a lot of successful duos in the past, The White Stripes, He Is We, and now Panic! At The Disco, here we are introduced to another duo, brothers Nick and Louis Matos. They are The Great Valley, haling from Delaware, USA and have just released their debut LP ‘Ruthless’. Although it is still earlier day for this duo, if they work hard and play their cards right they just might be added to that list.

'Yesterday' is a great opening track, it launches straight into an upbeat mix of guitars and hard hitting drums, this first song definitely gets you hooked, it’s super catchy and very easy to listen to. The Great Valley seems to sing lyrics about head times in such an upbeat way that it hardly seems sad. This is a great way to start the EP with this standout song. Pop-punk is a hard thing to pull off successfully with every second band having a crack at it but there is something a little different with this song from The Great Valley, it seems less poppy and more rockier then most, with it sounding like a more mature version of a band such as Hit The Lights and these lyrics are also a testament to that.

‘Dreamer’ follows; it has the same formula as its predecessor with its upbeat sound, although not as catchy as the first track however still building a solid foundation for this 8 track LP. Lead single ‘Dirty Work’ comes next, and it’s obvious why this song was chosen as the first single, although in my opinion not as strong as the opener it has almost has all the same aspects, with a definite sing along quality. However continuing on, the midsection of the album is a little bit of a letdown after the first couple of songs, not saying that this is bad, just saying that the first songs were such standouts that what follows does not quite live up to them, they do not deliver the same kind of standard as the opening song, and lead single 'Dirty Work' do. Still catchy, still upbeat but just a little bit '‘I’ve heard this before’'

Then we get to closer ‘Like We Do’, a what a great choice in my opinion because it picks up where the standout songs left, off if only for the last 4 minutes, its emotional and catchy and altogether a well structured pop-punk song, (although could have probably done without the last 40 seconds of the song, but hey that’s just me) As a whole this record is a great foundation for a promising future.

The Great Valley has great potential, with their ever catchy tunes and lyrics they are bound to grab fans from all areas. They may have a bit of a way to go but with what they have here on this record, if they continue along the same road they definitely will be heading in the right direction and one to keep an eye on.

1. Yesterday
2. Dreamer
3. Dirty Work
4. Me, Myself & Time
5. Sweeter Side Of Life
6. If Your Stayed
7. Ruthless
8. Like We Do