EP review: Hermitage Green – Gold & Rust
They may have been aiming more for gold with this six-track EP, but Irish band Hermitage Green have come up slightly short.
Like most prospectors seeking fortune in the gold rush of 1800s America, when the pan is lifted from the water it is more rust left floating before our eyes.
The Limerick lads are firmly sticking their flag in the Mumford & Sons bracket of folk rock and are hoping to be swept up in that storm. They clearly possess an ear for such things. Their harmonies are slick and sweet. But trying to hang the whole EP on one trick leaves it feeling a little flat.
In Overawed, nods are made to countrymen The Script, the poppier side of the spectrum preferred to get their saccharine message across.
It follows on from something of a stomping Lions Share, the primal beats of Brother & Bones channelled through this safari trek of impending danger. One of the better of the six songs, it still feels a little light and radio-friendly in its polished finish.
Radio friendly perhaps sums up the EP nicely. It is clear charts are the target. There are no boundaries pushed down, and while we don’t expect every record to be something phenomenally new, there is little accomplishment to ticking boxes.
We don’t want to just write criticism. There is good work here to craft the shining sound. In Insane for instance, the pained guitars sweeping between the vocals are an emotive break from normality, particularly when they enter the Tom Morello stratosphere of scratched anguish.
But if it is something different you want to hear, look elsewhere. While a competent number, Mountain steals so much from the Mumford & Sons songbook the Londoners may be calling to ask for their sound back.
A little unadventurous, these guys might need to try a new tack to find mainstream success. Others already do this, and arguably better.
Rating: 5/10
Hermitage Green play Birmingham’s O2 Academy on Saturday, December 2.
