The Summer War – The ‘Keep Up, We’re Moving On’ EP.

The Summer War – Manchester, England, United Kingdom.

Fresh and realistic growth.

Hailing from the great city of musical history that is Manchester, The Summer War play an original set of Alternative Rock with shavings of Indie-Rock, laden with hooks and melodies, via injections from their past music endeavours. The band’s original sound focussed more on current wave (at least in the smaller scenes) of UK Pop-Punk, all of which implements a more mid-tempo sound.

A solid sound in itself, we at MF have given a few of these bands the FRESH TREATMENT in our short history. However, as a sound, this wasn’t enough for TSW. They didn’t view it in a negative light, they just simply wanted to evolve.

I received a message from the band’s Tom Farr recently, who shortly after enquiring about MF, asked for the aforementioned fresh treatment. We were more than happy to oblige of course, so as we often do, I began to ask a few questions about the last release, which was released on the 20th July 2014. Here’s some “minutes” from that “meeting”:

‘For that record, the main influences were Brand New, The Dangerous Summer, Manchester Orchestra and maybe the self-titled album era, Blink-182, as well.

In terms of the sound, we would just go into every writing session trying to build on what we’ve already done, whilst making sure it’s different in terms of the sounds, rhythms, dynamics etc… We don’t necessarily take the first version of a riff or a beat and just run with it, we try and consciously develop whatever we start with so it ends up finishing in its most “explored” form…’ 

‘You Will Find Us In The Dark’ takes point. I’m glad the band cited the Blink-182’s self titled album, as it’s my personal favourite from the band. I’m not a huge Blink fan, but that album really worked and track one cites that fact.

For the most part it’s a mid-paced number, with a melancholy build up before a strong, crescendo led, “chunky” intro that shows the band’s direction. Strong Indie guitar work in the verses atop a low, Punky grumble on the bass. The chorus is memorable and well driven, both musically and in regard to the vocals. My personal favourite from the release. The accompanying video will be posted at the bottom.

The band’s Pop-Punk roots may not be at the forefront but you’d be fool to miss their little heads poking round, A FOOL! ‘Lost In Transit’ is more upbeat than the previous and has a more hook laden format, likening it to the more rocky Pop-Punk sound, especially in rhythm and vocal style. It’s still a solid rock song, but shows off the band’s regard for their roots and ideas, with some solid guitar work cheery melodies.

Three, ‘Interlude’, is what it is named and is quite frankly a lovely piece of music.

‘Recovery’ gives a good example of the band’s sound. As much as the “Pop-y” aspects are concrete and welcome, the heavier, lower elements of the band’s sound complete the equation and would themselves be incomplete without the aforementioned “Pop-ier” injections. From 2:25 to 2:53 the whole dynamic of the song changes and we are treated to some jagged riffage, before being returned to the soaring guitar and interplay between the relaxed vocal lead and Pop-Punk-esque backing vocals.

Track five. Now, vocal interplay between two voices so often falls flat in music. With this band however, due to the mixed musical style, it seems to work and is purveyed well in ‘Had It All’. The Poppy verses and choruses are once more, in the latter part of the song, supplemented by some almost old-school Pop-Punk breakdowns, before riding out atop a strong percussion foundation and soaring ballad.

I shan’t say too much for the final instalment, as I’m going to leave it to you lovely lot to enjoy. Track six is an acoustic rendtion of ‘Lost In Transit’ with some welcome guest vocals from a young lady by the name of Libby Caulfield. A chilled way to end the EP, I genuinely can’t decide if I prefer it to the previous version. Good old Music Journalism.

Genuine music by a genuine band. If you’re interested in hearing more from the band and acquiring their music, then the following links are all you need:

– To keep up with the band, check their Facebook and Twitter profiles, for videos their Youtube Channel and most importantly, their bandcamp for all your listening needs and FREE downloads.

#StayFresh