SUNRIDERS

I have always enjoyed the EP's that Amplifier release. They allow the band to try new things with minimal risk and most of the time their experiments have succeeded. This EP is no exception and has allowed the band to further explore their Space Rock influences and mix things up.

There are 4 songs on this EP with each song being longer (and IMO better) than the previous. "Spaceman" is the least interesting song here and is stereotypical Amplifier in every way. I wouldn't be surprised if this was just a b-side that didn't make the cut for Echo Street.

"Sunriders" is much more interesting and its song structure is notably different from typical Amplifier. There is no regular verse or chorus, but multiple themes that have been stuck together, some of which will repeat themselves over the song in a random manner, others that will occur only once. It takes a bit of time to get used to this type of song as it initially sounds disjointed. However combined with the Space Rock sound it does work.

"Never And Always" follows the same unorthodox structure as Sunriders, except it is even more disjointed and contains more Space Rock. The outcome of this is quite free flowing and care free (while also being unpredictable) which is a pleasure to listen to when one is in the mood for more lucid and unstructured songs.

"Close" is back to the sound that Amplifier were trying to capture on Echo Street. It starts with lots of spacy sound effects and distortion which is typical for the genre. Unlike the other songs on this EP the lyrics are much more focused and have a clear opinion that they want to make about the world. The song finishes with a powerful instrumental and is a great way to "close" the EP.

So we have one boring song, 2 interesting songs (but one outclasses the other IMO) and one great song. So I will give this a solid 3 stars. Its well worth getting the extended version of Echo Street which contains this EP.