EP Review: High Society by The Frequency

The Frequency consists of two musicians featured previously on Guitar Jar; Austyn Brown and Dan Hammond-Smith.

Over the past 12 months, they’ve joined forces to create The Frequency – an outfit fully charged with classic rock ‘n roll, intent on delivering it by the bucket load.

…these guys simply want to serve up a fresh dish of good, melodic rock ‘n roll…

It’s been an exciting few months for the band. They’ve been documenting their progress on YouTube and Twitter, seeing DHS taking on bass guitar duties, with Austyn commanding from the front. Watching their progress from afar has left me wanting to hear the fruit of their labours for quite some time.

“High Society” consists of three tracks all firmly placed in the indie rock camp. If you don’t like the “indie scene”, or if overdriven guitars aren’t your thing, you may want to look elsewhere. Austyn Brown grew up on a stable diet of anything from AC/DC to Paul Weller, so it’s inevitable these influences would shine through from the outset.

Run with you

The opening track on the EP doesn’t disappoint. Melody is the order of the day with lyrics flowing effortlessly over a bed of raw guitar tones. The sound instantly took me back to ’96, whilst embracing a slight modern twist.

The guitar sound is right up my street – I’m a complete sucker for overdriven, layered guitars and the EP (not just this track) is packed with them. A tasty little guitar solo featuring a sprinkle of Wah is thrown in for good measure, leaving me wondering if this is Austyn unleashing fury on his battered ’67 SG?

The Lighthouse

“The Lighthouse” is a powerhouse of guitars. Very reminiscent of “Definitely Maybe” era Oasis, an out and out, ball-to-the-wall rock ‘n roll track, with Austyn’s vocals tipping the hat towards Jonny Rotten at times (“I know I’m rightttttt”).

Personally, it’s the drum sound that excites me the most on this track. Not only were the drums recorded well, they’re played well, packed full of energy. Good stuff.

Changing Faces

Catchy melodies seem to flow from The Frequency and the last track on the EP features a melody that sounds slightly “Dylan-esque” (in the chorus). It seems the rest of the band aren’t afraid to add their own touch of backing vocals either, all mixed to complement the bed of overdriven guitars that are present throughout.

Summary

This is a good effort from The Frequency. There’s no doubt about it, these guys simply want to serve up a fresh dish of good, melodic rock ‘n roll.

I enjoyed the quality of the recording, with the guitars and drums mixed really well, but the “Man of the Match“ award goes to Austyn, as his vocals really shine – whoever mixed the EP did a god job at pushing his vocals high into the mix.

The Frequency are talented musicians. Listening to the EP you can hear elements that elude to the fact future musical efforts from the band may not strictly be rock ‘n roll – something tells me they have a diverse musical offering to present to us.

If they can add a slice of musical diversity into a full album, I think we’ll be looking at one of the finest bands currently gigging on the South Coast (UK). Good luck to them.

You can find out more about The Frequency at:

• http://www.thefrequencyuk.com/