The Start: Death Via Satellite

The Start is of course, the band featuring Aimee Echo from Human Waste Project and Jamie Miller from Snot, but whereas those bands’ output tended to focus on the heavier side of punk metal, the fact that The Start have toured with the (now poppy) Sugar Ray, Weezer and Strung Out should give those uninitiated with their music some idea of how broad-ranging in style they are.

Following their debut album last year this EP sees a marked progression from the poppy synth-laden Duran-Duran influences of ‘Shakedown!’ and seems to favour a much rougher guitar approach. Title track ‘Death By Satellite’ opens it up with a grating guitar riff that, although illustrating a punkier direction, still retains that bouncy edge that made their debut so enjoyable. As for its chorus, well, it’s definitely up there with ‘Gorgeous’, although it's less lively tempo and moody timbre allows Aimee to meander through her lower octaves, lifting you into it's light echoing bridge.

However, while the other 5 songs still demonstrate how startlingly disparate they are, they just fail to reach the sheer quality of the opening track. They’re still amazing songs, the darkness of last track ‘Trinity’ drawing you into a stirringly warm side to their usual upbeat style. Just maybe they shouldn’t drift too far away from the explosive formula evident on ‘Shakedown!’.