At just four tracks (five if you count the alternate edit of ‘Whiskey Night’) Greece’s Felony Case’s debut is one that shows promise but doesn’t yet appear to be the definitive article.
Opener ‘Still Not Me’ takes over a minute to get going and has some nice guitar but it’s not the strongest choice of song to open an EP with to be honest. It’s too atmospheric, moody and laid back, that is before it unexpectedly roars to life over four minutes in with a simple repeated refrain that adds a touch of early Maiden to the melancholy. Don;t get me wrong ts not a bad song but on an EP you really do need to hook the listeners in from the off.
One thing that you notice from the off is that production here is mighty thin and on the title track that follows, a song that really probably should have opened here, you feel that they just might have something – managing to capture the essence of that early 80’s proto female-fronted Metal sound of Lee Aaron and Bitch. It’s a good song and suits the misty vocal of Faidra Potsika, who I must admit I wasn’t completely convinced by on the opener. The keys too,even tough a little clumsily introduced do work well adding a classic Rock vibe to the mix.
That just leaves us with two. The first of which, ‘Whisky Night’ starts with sirens and a nice mid tempo Dokken-like riff before Faidra’s distinctive voice and mild falsetto drops in. Again the mix is a little lacking but I do like the elements they are playing with, even if the fall back to just drums at the almost 4 minute mark and then the reintroduction of guitars and sirens is a little sudden and clumsy. It doesn’t quite work for me and the song had been doing perfectly well without the interlude that ends up stretching out to the end of the song just as you’d been expecting the refrain to come bursting back in. The ‘Radio Edit’ that I have tat shaves a minute of the track misses that chance to give it a punchier ending.
Final track ‘Let Me Go Love’ is an interesting one, it starts out all keys and balladic, but not necessarily your traditional rock ballad and while it lacks a real hook it’s a nice slow burner that shows a band with some nice ideas. If these guys stick together and keep at it there is that spark there that suggests the future is looking bright.
The band from Ioannina, who used to be known as Wild Drive Greece is completed by bassist Antonis Adam, drummer Vaggelis Goulas, guitarist George Gousias and keyboardist Alexandros Papanastasiou. This EP and name change heralds a ‘new beginning’ for the band.
Track List: 01. Still Not Me | 02. Strangers Give More | 03. Whiskey Night | 04. Let Me Go Love