Remote Players Club - Remote Players Club

Remote Players Club

Remote Players Club
self-released; 2015

3.8 out of 5

By Mike Przygoda

The self-titled EP Remote Players Club from Remote Players Club is a driving force of excellent songwriting and excited performances. The energy the band has is palpable, giving a thrilling ride through four superb songs.

“Upside Up” has a Jim James-ish vocal over walls of guitars and some excellent drumming that balances some over-the-bar line-funk with harder hitting rock. The guitars are thick but the texture is never crowded and the bridge opens up with a tiny slide part that peeks in and is a nice contrast to the power and drive of the rest of the song. The tambourine also works well to direct the transitions within the song.

“Can’t Get A Grip” has an Interpol flavor to it in the frenetic vocal delivery proto-metal bass line.   There are times in the chorus that the vocal melody doesn’t quite lock in with the hits in the band and loses some momentum (though it may be playing into the title), but the instrumental finds itself floating through a multitude of dynamics, tones and riffs, and builds nicely.  The breakdown into slow heavy breathing in the middle is clever and makes for a very interesting surprise.

“Nooseless” opens with stadium-prog-metal drive with big power chords, spacey vocals and busy but effective drums. The song occasionally blurs in and out with whooshes and other blips and finishes with a brisk piano ostinato adding to the trippiness that precedes it. It’s a rush in energy and emotion, and very effective.

“Rest Of My Time” closes the album with a Beck-like folk pop song (almost Rolling Stones-ish in melody/chords) that outside of the propulsive drums feels a bit removed from the rest of the songs on the EP. Still, the melody and lyrics are very catchy and well constructed and the mellotron makes for a nice instrumental break. It’s a very good song, just a curious way to conclude the EP.

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