Surtsey is a fairly newer trio that comes to us from Southeast Missouri. Their independent debut EP, Broken Beds, is a blend of rock, pop, americana and indie styles that meld together for a commendable debut effort. The album is six tracks and features some gorgeous melodies, nice instrumentations, a strong vocal backing and an overall mellow feel to it. The surprising thing is that this band is from Cape Girardeau, a town whose now fledgling local music scene consists of mostly generic Shinedown wannabe rock bands and the always dreaded, god awful metal bands. While Surtsey's EP is a breath of fresh air among Cape's scene, the album definitely leaves something to be desired.
Broken Beds opens with "How Time Sorts Things", a catchy melodic pop rock tune whose main guitar riff is extremely pretty. Add the piano providing most of the lead work and the song comes together pretty well. "A Summer Beneath The Trees" sounds like a typical pop punk influenced song directed at high school age kids. The chunky guitars in the verses sound nice but the rest of the song is way too reminiscent of something from a band like All Time Low due to the down stroked, palm muted guitar chords and the whiny sounding vocals. The song overall just doesn't sound like it belongs on the album. "I Am In Your Name (Chariot)" is probably the real gem of the disc. The soaring vocal line is impressive and shows lead singer Joseph Bassa's true capability.
The production quality is impressive, although the liner notes don't say anything about where the album was recorded. The drums are big sounding with just enough reverb and the snare is pretty tight and dry and really cuts through the mix. The electric guitars are chunky and have great tone on the rhythms but a lot of the leads are tinny and need more low end. All of the acoustic guitar tracks are crisp and are mixed just right so it shines through behind the electric guitars just enough to not be drowned out. The vocals are set in the mix just right and Bassa's voice is more on the high end, sounding almost female in a lot of parts.
In the end, Broken Beds is an applaudable effort by a young band who knows how to play and how to write. The instrumentation is tight, production is impressive and their melodies are very beautiful. The EP however just really did not do much for me in terms of style and originality, save for the actual sound of Joe Bassa's voice. Surtsey is certainly something unique to Cape Girardeau's scene and could possibly be something regionally but on a national level they sound like just another pop band for the most part.
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