Cardiff’s The Slowdance have finally come out and released some material through local label Rat Patrol Records. The Slowdance project has been the best part of three years in the making. They finally got under way with gigging in the summer of 2006 and ever since have won many plaudits throughout South Wales for their ferocious, passionate and always energetic live show. Frankly, getting my hands on the EP and getting to listen to it for the first time was very exciting for me.

Likened to Hot Water Music mostly, they draw on a wide range of influences, from the aforementioned to The Movielife, Texas is the Reason, anything involving Jonah Matranga or Walter Schreifels, Sick of it All and many more, you get the general idea. This is fast positive hardcore punk rock, simple as. You get what you pay for and The Slowdance never at any point sound or look like disappointing. The melodies are instantly addictive, the harmonies sweet as can be and of course it’s all packed in with a healthy dose of aggression and passion, just about all you can ask from a good melodic punk rock band.

‘Diamonds’ is a good signal of intent, opening up with a mish mash of heavy guitar and frantic drum beats it evolves into a shouty, "fists in the air" verse, and then seemingly out of nowhere opens into a massive and addictive chorus. ‘Imogen’ follows on from that and opens with lush melodic guitars, the contrast between this and the rough vocals of vocalist Hugh Russell are one of the overall strengths of this band, and is something they build on throughout. ‘Pistolmouth’ opens with chimey lead guitar and is instantly an anthemic affair. To their credit The Slowdance do this really well throughout, mixing the heavy and melodic to great effect. ‘Jump Ship’ is pure injection of energy, before the truly epic ‘Palpitations’ which is three times as long as the previous song but honestly you don’t get that impression from listening, it flows through wonderfully and quite honestly leaves the biggest smile on your face.

Don’t relax though, closer ‘Monument’ is something else, going faster through the last three minutes with a massive hook, the sound of the guitars really draws you in through this, as do many of the lead guitar lines throughout the EP. The harmonies and backing vocals shine through in abundance. The overall feeling is of satisfaction, it’s a really good effort for a first EP and the six songs are definitely well worth just shy of twenty minutes of your time.

Unfortunately, it’s not all positive, as huge as The Slowdance’s songs undoubtedly are, they don't fully portray themselves in the recorded material, the production is also a bit questionable. It almost feels like a missed opportunity, as one of South Wales’ best live bands may be overlooked, unless you have been fortunate enough to have seen them live. I recommend that you check out this EP. The qualities in the songwriting are enough to outweigh what the production seems to have misplaced. I’d definitely recommend you see them live if you get a chance.

Overall, a great first EP, but it’s not quite up to the par of the real "The Slowdance" that I have come to know and love as a live band.

You can check out The Slowdance's Altsounds page where the tracks from the EP can be heard, click here.