With the release of “Sunday Romance” the Novatones round off their trilogy about the weekend antics, carrying on from where the previous “For Monies Sake” EP left off – the second release having been about partying on a Saturday night, whereas the band’s first “Begging at the Bunhouse” in 2011 was all about celebrating the end of the week.
This is by no means part three of a self-indulgent prog rock epic though, but merely the conclusion to a concept of some lads that live for the weekends… and (like many of us) enjoy those rare moment away from the day jobs.
It’s this then that makes “Sunday Romance” a down to earth record and one that you feel at home with from the start, upon the front cover the bands logo bares a clear resemblance to that of the Libertines and the opening track “Daddy Didn’t Know” could easily be the coming together of Pete Doherty with the late Joe Strummer of the Clash.
Not a bad paring then and one that continues on “Forever Tonight” as lyrically the band reminisce about the night before, layered over the top of plenty of jangly guitar hooks courtesy of Mackenzie Gordon-Smith. There may well be traits from the indie-rock of the late 1990’s/early 2000’s but there are still a number of bands out there flying the indie flag, whilst the Novatones also continue to honour the mod and punk influences of Britain’s past along with the more modern sing-a-long chorus on “Western Song”.
It may be easy to draw comparisons and I’m sure I won’t be alone in doing so, but just as when the Arctic Monkeys broke onto the scene embracing those that had come before them “Well, I’m the one you should be watching” sings Anthony Pittman on “Tell me” and quite rightly so, as these guys have already had successful support slots for the Ordinary Boys and the Rifles along with playing to the mod crowd alongside 80’s band the Lambrettas.
So as the EP comes to a close and the drawn out slower track of “Be Yourself” tells us to be just that, the Novatones may not have come up with a ground breaking new genre, but they have certainly been true to themselves and there’s nothing wrong with wearing your heart on your sleeve – the end result being an EP that will stand the test of time.
