Album Review: Pro Team - 'Fault Lines (EP)'

While Melbourne’s Pro Team might maintain an unassuming status that is not to say their reputation is largely anonymous. A staple in the local scene, a hiatus (or perhaps, break up) ensured the band forcibly stagnated.

Now the group return and new EP ‘Fault Lines’ has a feel of a band picking up from where they left off. While the previous efforts were the full stop, this release is like the new sentence. With EP ‘Our Wasteland’ selling out early in the year, not one could argue with the current levels of interest.

'Fault Lines' adopts many of the standard punk and melodic hardcore stylings and doesn’t get muddled in any new developments. At eight tracks, the EP almost carries over into full-length territory. ‘Fault Lines’ is a discernible and confident release that works within a narrow genre blueprint. However, this is not a bad thing. It merely highlights Pro Team’s intentions. 

The music is immediately engaging and has an impressionable feel. ‘Fallen’ adopts the contemporary melodic hardcore riffs with that raspy youthful punk refrains.

The songs flow instead of stall, with each track transitioning in simple fashion. It’s not an unpredictable listen but gets its appeal from its influences and its merits from the honesty of the music.

‘Fault Lines’ does take you back to that 2004-07 period where metalcore was the buzz and local punk/hardcore bands were prominent on domestic bills. ‘Hellhole’ is well paced and consistently steady in tempo, while subsequent track ‘Night Lights’ stays in the same range but has a greater punk feel to it.

Perhaps, the EP is eight tracks of largely the same type of song structure, but it hits its marks more times than not. Repetition is there, but the overall presentation is still dynamic enough.

‘Fault Lines’ is a retentive listen that is another solid home grown release. It doesn’t masquerade, but instead presents something very respectable. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel or offer any new takes on innovation, but the EP still provides a suitable spin on the player.

1. Fallen

2. Hellhole

3. Night Lights

4. Seasick

5. Interlude

6. We Can’t Carry Them All

7. Breakage

8. Fault Lines