When people think of Bracknell, they think of it as the place where the MET Office used to be, or the proud holder of the town with the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the UK. It’s even remembered for having the most rug or bed shops in one area, with Carpet Right and DFS seemingly dominating retail parks across the borough.
However soon, after the emergence of bands such as Streetfight Silence, Hey! I’m A Moviestar and recently Sundown, Bracknell might soon be more famous for producing promising musical talent. False Priority are another band who are also hoping to make the grade, and in a bid to reach that goal they released their debut LP just over a week ago.
Entitled ‘The Time Is Now’, False Priority’s debut record has only been released after two live performances, and many would suggest this is far too early for any band to think about releasing any material. For a band that have only been together for a short while you would expect the songs to be raw and unrefined, and that’s exactly what you get with False Priority.
However, that is no bad thing. With the first song sharing the title of the EP, the band kicks off by proclaiming that “the time is now for a brand new day” and that “it seems our time has come, it seems we’ve been waiting for so long”. With the band seemingly insistent that they are ready for the big time, their title song sends out a message of purpose. This song got me hearing echoes of Greenday back in their early days, around the releases of Dookie and Insomniac. In fact you get this feeling throughout the whole album, and it is clear to see that Greenday have been big influences on False Priority.
A lot of their songs have dark lyrics, with ‘Dear Diary’ being a song full of confessions about messing up in the past. Other songs seem to follow suit, with ‘In My Eyes’ cursing the loss of a friend, with Connor Langham, the lead singer, announcing that “it’s not great to be me”. Musically though, the songs are good, with ‘In My Eyes’ serving up a great guitar solo, while ‘Dear Diary’, the slowest song on the album, serving as a great reprieve from the other, much heavier songs.
The theme of dark thoughts and bad feelings seems to be continuous throughout their EP, and while it does lead to some neat lyrics and good riffs such as in ‘Cold As Summer’, it would have been more pleasant to see some more upbeat tracks with feel-good lyrics. I feel if False Priority add a few more light-hearted songs into the mix for their next release, it will be seen as a much mature effort with a better reception, especially as cheerful music is welcomed more by most people.
On a lighter tone, it must be noted that this album is not suitable for vegetarians, as their last song ‘We Like Poultry’ involves the boys chanting meat-eating references. This is a hidden track at the end of ‘Lay The Waste’, and definitely stands out as a much more positive and tongue-in-cheek effort to the rest of the songs on the album.
Overall ‘The Time Is Now’ is an unrefined piece by False Priority, but I find it’s also undefined as well. The rawness is great to see, with the band demonstrating great use of guitars and drums throughout the album. Some impressive riffs and guitar solos really do bump up the quality of their music, and this is very promising in terms of future releases from the band.
However, I feel the band are yet to find themselves within their music, but that is expected with a band at such an early stage in their careers. They need to define themselves; this way they’ll write songs about anything and everything and not just about bad memories and troubling times. Once False Priority develop their own character and in turn their own unique music I have no doubts that they will have any problems in conveying a brighter message to their fans, and also even better music to what they’re producing now.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great effort from the boys, but as they discover and develop their own musical sound, their music will simultaneously grow in quality.
Please purchase this album, and even if you don’t, remember the name False Priority and come back at the end of the year, and I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
False Priority’s debut EP ‘The Time Is Now’ is on sale now for £3. If you’re interested in purchasing a copy, please contact the boys through their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/False-Priority/126644747401144
Alternatively, you can also visit their Myspace page: www.myspace.com/falsepriority
