From State Of Error comes another record which they’ve penned themselves and taken time out of jobs and university studies to record and put together. I never really know what to expect from the lads these days. They’ve had their ups and their downs in this band and have bounced from strength to strength. They’ve played on tiny stages, and huge open air festival stages, and also with local bands, to worldwide recognized acts. Even though variety comes through in their gigging, there is only one reason these lads do it; to get their music heard by as many people as is possible. Knowing the four of them personally means they’re constantly clogging up my Facebook feed with updates of “come and see us here, come and see us there”, “buy our new music, buy our old music”, and I say good on them for doing it. I don’t think I’ve known a band put so much dedication into plugging and plugging and plugging, but at the end of the day they are four talented musicians who collectively know a hell of a lot about music and how to write good music which not only pleases the current fans, but also brings newer fans into the scope!
Forever Waiting is one of their EPs which demonstrates perfectly their ability to write and understand how to put together a record. They’ve brought to us, a record which sounds to me as if it is influenced by a lot of new, up and coming bands, (as well as the boys old favourites). Riffs and beatdowns, belonging to the sounds of Four Year Strong and A Day To Remember. Vocals reminiscent of the pop punk that Sum 41 and Green Day brought us, and lyrics on a political par with the likes of Rise Against and Rage Against The Machine.
I really like the feel and vibes that this record gives out when played through, but even so, when you listen to the songs separately you do gain insight into the individual tracks. My favourite track without a doubt is “Story Of Our Lives”, favoured maybe because of my pop punk youth, but I do really love the opening to the song, and I feel any lover of beatdown music, with a pop punk edge would equally adore this song.
I do have to say the opening of “Wasted A Day” really did feel like a punk cover of One Direction’s, “What Makes You Beautiful” was just about to occur, but they save themselves from this guilty pleasure, with a summery track, that made me personally feel like I should be surfing.
The only thing I initially disliked about this EP was the opening of fourth track, “Make Believe”. I felt the opening of the song slowed the album right down to a pace that may not have been recoverable. But on further listening the song had quite a dark edge to it, which quite possibly added dynamic to the record.
Last track, the punchy “Full Circle” ended the EP on an MxPx/Sum 41 feel, which I really enjoyed. The track completely closed the EP and left you satisfied with what you’d heard.
I used to watch these guys perform cover tracks at all these gigs, crowd favourites being Blink 182, Green Day and The Matches. But I can really see these guys getting on par with these bands musically, and on stage. They never lack energy, passion or drive, which to me says these guys deserve a listen whether you like this genre or not. State Of Error have flowed effortlessly from record to record, adapting their sound and style with each one, but still retaining that State Of Error feel you hear when listening or watching anything they do. Good luck to the guys with releasing this EP, and if this review is anything to go by, I suggest you get yourselves down to Bradford Playhouse on 5th November 2011 for the launch of “Forever Waiting”. If you can’t make it to that, support unsigned music and go grab a copy from the guys, or get online to iTunes, eMusic and any other reliable digital download service and bang it straight onto your MP3.
