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[ghost]

Suvara - Demo 2
( most songs are available from http://www.soundclick.com/suvara )

Hard on the heels of my review of Suvara's first demo, this 3-tracker was recorded at approximately the same time as the first. This time around Suvara's sound bring to mind a much different collection of bands...

Club Rules
After the abundance of festival-ready tunes on the first demo I wasn't surprised to hear another bouncy track, but the mood generated here is much darker. The mix is closer, tighter, and as a result makes everything sound muddier - especially the vocals - which are lost a bit behind the electric guitar and drums. No harmonies in this one and I'm rather surprised especially as its crying out for one in the outro. Points off for reminding me of Elastica with the guitar riff too. Oh my.

She Is
This track has MUCH more space and I like the light reverb on the guitar. The mood is wistful and it brings to mind a Fairground Attraction song which for the life of me I can't remember the name of. The repetitiveness and high compression of the guitar parts tire the ears after a few spins - definitely something to watch out for with high treble guitar patches, overcompression! You can tell this is a live recording as there are a few timing issues between the guitars, and the bass could do with being a bit higher in the mix, but once the niggles are sorted out you'll have a nice head-nodding love song to win you starry-eyed groupies...

Mobile
Hey, I get that sea-shanty vibe again with this one - the electro-mandolin is a strange sound and it really cuts through the other instruments - good to get the attention but might need a bit of restraining to allow the listener to focus on the vocals . The chorus is crashing with "run down the miles" raising the neck hairs - easily the best moment on the CD and firmly grounds the track in the head of the listener. I love the harmonies in this one too. The heavily distorted break is a bit weak to be honest, but that's the EQ/limiting issue again. Nice track to finish live sets/CDs with and would be a nice companion for Treasure Island on the Mike Harding CD. I'll be bringing the lighter on the 28th...

Overall, I think the first demo contains the stronger songs - Club Rules just doesn't stick in my head and She Is is let down by messy recording. Mobile however is on a par with the tracks from the first CD and is by far the best track of the three. I'll be interested to hear how their sound has developed once their latest recording session is ready for consumption.