When I heard that Research Turtles were comin’ out with a new EP called 'Mankiller' , I was anxious to see what direction the band would take. The direction in which a band after an astounding debut album , decides to stick to the ‘winning’ formula and stagnate the sound without experimenting with various styles or the direction in which a band keeps belting out tracks at an unrelenting passion alongwith progressing sound – wise after every release .
Research Turtles , I’m happy to say , fall in the latter category . While their self titled debut effort was more of garage influenced stuff , this EP blends pop punk with Britpop to create a unique sound of its own . It’s not as if the garage influences have been totally knocked out , but they have seamlessly combined these genres together to actually create good stuff .
For those who don’t know , Research Turtles is a four – piece act consisting of Jud Norman on the vocals and bass guitars , Joseph Darbonne and Logan Fontenet on the guitars and Blake Thibodeaux handling the drum duties . Although their first album might have had critics debating on Jud's lesser variety in his vocals, this EP shuts them so frigging tight . Jud’s bass playing along with Blake’s skin slamming capabilities form the impeccable rhythm section which is perfectly supplemented by Joseph’s and Logan’s guitaring . Though this album doesn’t emphasize on the solo aspect of guitar playing , it experiments with guitar effects and layers .
The EP begins with a small song named ‘Girl Like You’ which is the softest track of the EP , with Jud singing with an acoustic guitar playing in the background . Next up , is a track called ‘You Are So’ which kicks off in a true Research Turtles style . The song is energetic , to say the least , and Jud’s bass playing is also commendable . ‘Bugs In a Jar‘ is a soothing track with an infectiously catchy chorus and a pop like quality of the song makes it one of the best songs in the EP . Following this is the title track , ‘Mankiller’ , which displays the change in direction (sound – wise) aptly. The bass playing is very groovy in this track . Jud shows that he cannot be stereotyped into a specific vocal range while Joseph’s and Logan’s Guitar work is aggressive , somewhat punk – ish , and Blake’s drumming is very impressive , to say the least . The EP ends with the track ‘Rhinestone Gal’ , which is my favorite track from the EP . This track is a belter of a track due to the presence of sheer amount of energy the listener can feel while listening to it . Guitar effects are very well complemented by Blake’s tight drumming . The last 40 seconds are the best part of the song , with a headbanging like quality about it .
My final advise to you all – DO NOT STARE at your screen. Go buy it and hell yeah , you are gonna love it.
Here's the link : http://researchturtles.com/store
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