The EP is a deceptively tricky little creature. An Extended Play record is a band’s chance to flick out a tantalising morsel that encapsulates their sound – a musical appetiser that offers a taste of what is to come.
The danger is that, when you’ve got a record that generally clocks in at around 20 minutes all up, you’ve got to make every one of those minutes count.
Unfortunately for New Zealand trio Tablefox, their Passenger EP has a distinct sense of all filler, no killer.
“Friendly Fire” is slow burning ballad that mixes the sound of The National and The Killers with a touch of Temper Trap. It’s a solid enough pop rock song, but offers no glimpse of any idiosyncrasies that might set Tablefox apart from any other pop rock band.
Lead singer Clinton Bell has a sonorous voice but despite all the soaring notes and vibrato effects, his is a wasted talent. He follows an uninspired vocal formula which seems to be popping up on every indie rock record de jour.
Likewise, the Auckland boys are clearly talented musicians yet they’ve managed to produce five tracks that are near identical to one another. It’s a limp effort and indicates that some much more creative song writing is required for future efforts.
“Call To Arms”, the final song on the record, has all the makings of an assassin lying in waiting, with a stronger up-tempo drum beat and the low tones of Bell’s bellicose lyrics (Will you crawl/Or will you fight). But like the rest of the record, it’s all style and little substance. A strangely deflated ending to what is ultimately a fairly anaemic EP.
