Album Review

GIANTS – These Are The Days

• 27th Feb 2013

It’s obvious Giants have an obsession with skating looking through their artwork and merch. If it’s not a skateboard it’s the words skate punk, and it’s everywhere you look when you search for this band. It’s no wonder that this is their go-to niche when billing this band. These Essex based Posi-core skater kids self-released this EP in September 2012, but with the release of their ‘Won’t be Told’ music video (made up from their tour videos from 2012) its back in the limelight and rightly so.

I don’t know whether it’s the fact that they are so skate orientated or whether the first track’s (‘Did It Mean So Much To You’) well-placed gang woah’s are reminiscent of AFI’s ‘The Boy Who Destroyed The World’ but I was instantly transported back to my youth, where I would play Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 Religiously. It shouldn’t be thought that this band are a tribute to times gone by however as they blast effortlessly forward with ‘When It Comes Down To It’ a Melodic Hardcore track laced with striking metal guitar riffs, melodic vocals and thrashing drums. This continues throughout this EP, for seventeen and a half minutes you are hit by fast paced Melodic Hardcore intertwined with Skater Punk attitude. ‘These are the days’ only slows once with the instrumental track ‘Bottled Up’. This track doesn’t break up the flow of the record at all, leading beautifully into ‘Boneless’ almost as if they have just sliced the song in two.

The tracks on this album have a funny way of making you feel like they are all faster and shorter than they are. It’s almost a surprise to see that 3 tracks on this EP break the 3 minute mark. For a Hardcore influenced band I thinks that’s an impressive feat – it’s incredibly difficult to make a punk song of length hold your attention and to make Hardcore tracks of that length is to be commended.

For a DIY release this is an impressive record; well composed, ordered and recorded. You get a great sense of passion and positive energy from it. Packed with gang vocals and shout along moments, this band is sure to be a crowd favourite and you can almost picture the live show while listening to it. This EP is great preparation for when the band hit a live venue near you.

Venue: These Are The Days
Support Band: Self Release