Band : A New Day

Album title : Perfect Passion

Label : Lockjaw

Distributor : Progressive Publicity

Release date : 19/05/2008

Release : 6-track MCD

South Wales quartet A New Day hails from the little coastal town of Llantwit Major, situated some 25 kms East from Cardiff, where the band wors formed back in 2002 by singer/ accordeon player Calum Fox , bassist/ backing singer Dan Fairhurst , and drummer/ backing singer Martyn Edwards (the three already fondling around with music separately since 1999). These three original members having sworn an oath to never break up, additional members apparently came and went, the latest addition to the line-up being guitarist/ backing singer Leigh McAndrew .

Over the years the band has crossed the UK from bottom to top to play gigs, occasionally sharing the stage with some of their favourite bands, such as A Wilhelm Scream , Failsafe , 4ft Fingers , Sonic Boom Six , The Casualties , and the Disappointments , to name but a few. Among the bands they listen to are also included AFI , Alkaline Trio , Am eric an Nightmare , Beastie Boys , The Bled , Blink 182 , Blue Monday , Comeback Kid , Crime In Stereo , The Flaming Tsunamis , Gorilla Biscuit , Have Heart , Millencollin , Motion City Soundtrack , New Found Glory , Propagandhi , Refused , Sean Arnold , SKWAD , Strike Anywhere , and many more...but did you see a certain pattern forming?

Well, the boys indeed claim to have Punk Rock in their souls, the current hard edged and energetically paced style evolving over the years through the events they experienced while on the road. Some of the band's songs have been featured in demo version on ITV television documentaries It's Your Shout , been played on Radio Bridge FM , Celtica Radio , and several university radios. The Perfect Passion EP (recorded by Todd Campbell of Copro recording artists S.K.W.A.D. at Todd 's Skwad HQ studio in Pontypridd – situated some 30 kms NNW from the boys hometown, this studio is recently becoming a hotspot for emerging Welsh bands) was self-released (albeit with different track running) before being picked up by Lockjaw , and therefore some reviews of the mini-album have already circulated, getting the band's melodic Hardcore Punk comparisons to a blending of the muscle of Alex Is On Fire with the urgent drive of Hot Water Music (punkornothing.com), "...like Hot Water Music meets Boy Sets Fire meets Poison The Well ( James Parker ).

Check it out for yourselves at myspace.com/anewdayuk, where you'll find mp3-files for the weirdly titled "Koko Ni Dare No Imasen" , and the EP closing "14 15" which is closed with a wacky soft bit featuring some accordeon playing. All together, the 6 songs with a normal length of around 3 minutes get one a total listening time of only just under 22 minutes, due to the fact that the longer (5:42) gets an intro which starts up much slower than the rest of the material. The occasonal slower bits elsewhere, the high sing-along factor, and the frequently available backing vocals make for a versatile album, say EP, with alternating intensities...which helps in keeping the listener's attention focussed! In short: a very nice debut MCD, indeed!

In support of the EP, the boys will join Haddonfield halfway May for yet another UK tour running 'til the beginning of June. After that they will be heading out to stages all over Europe for the rest of the year (in between still playing gigs on British soil), and will be visiting Japan in early 2009.

86/100

Tony.