EP REVIEW: Neverlanded – Fluffy Unicorns United
Neverland – Fluffy Unicorns United
Words: Nicholas Jacques
What do the words “Grunge music” evoke in your head? A genre that saved rock music from its death in the late 80s/early 90s? Responsible for churning out many bands in the mid to late 90s and saturating the market? Or creating some of the most gifted songwriters that ever graced our planet? Whatever your take on this much debated subject, one thing is for sure, the genre is still managing to produce some interesting and enjoyable bands!
One of them comes in the form of London 3-piece Neverlanded. Do they have the famous quiet/loud dynamic penned to a tea on the track ‘Brainsane’? Check! Are there Influences of Mudhoney and Nirvana? Check! Is it like travelling back to the early 90s and being immersed in that glorious scene all over again? Check!
The singer has an aggressive vocal delivery makes for invigorating listening on ‘Scream For Ice Cream’. One could say that Neverlanded’s sound is fluffy with a seriously spikey undercoat – this is a unicorn who wants to come across as anything but fluffy!
‘This friend of mine’ possesses a slow grinding, hypnotic vibe that brings Stone Temple Pilots to mind– it really shows a different side to their song-writing craft and the potential they have as a band. It takes the listener into a different realm.
Elsewhere the DIY punk ferocity on ‘MesSOS’ cuts to the bone and is not a million miles away from the “bare bones” production of In Utero.
The portions of distortion, snarling and crunching stack up in gluttonous fashion and it makes for compelling and visceral listening – Neverlanded are certainly not one trick ponies (or unicorns?)
Fluffy Unicorns United will be available from 1st April 2019. Follow Neverlanded on Facebook.
