EP Review: The Overbites – Mince

Dundee, Scotland, based punk outfit The Overbites, self released their debut EP, Mince, last week, as with many punk bands, they have risen from the tangled remains of other outfits that have crashed and burned, in this case Maxwell’s Dead, Salem Street and The Valens. Given The Overbites name and the EP’s artwork you could be forgiven for thinking that they be will treading a familiar pop punk path, but the Mince EP is a valuable lesson in never judging an EP by it’s cover.

I Could Never Stop is a fine 42 seconds of frantic epifat inspired DIY punk rock, this is followed by TV that keeps things racing along perfectly, The EP’s title track brings the pace down from the opening breakneck duo of songs, but it doesn’t lose any of the EP’s momentum, and it boasts a riotous chorus the carries echoes of classic ’77 UK punk rock, whilst Misled takes things into cowpunk territory. The constant shifting in style keeps the Mince EP throwing curveballs and coming at you from different angles, by the time Time Was Up comes into play I’m now expecting the unexpected, and I’m not disappointed as this track brings a raging ska punk element into the mix. The final track, Separation, introduces a glorious indie tinged punk rock finale to what has been a stunning debut EP.

The Mince EP somehow manages to embrace everything from ’77 punk to frantic Epifat punk rock, and pretty much everything in between, in the space of six tracks, on paper this might sound like a recipe for a disparate collection of songs but The Overbites tie everything together perfectly in their own style. The Mince EP is a perfect introduction to The Overbites, I can’t wait to hear just how much they’ll manage to pack into a full length on the basis of this diverse, unpredictable and near perfect debut EP.

The Mince EP is now available on CD and digital formats via Bandcamp here

The Overbites can be found on Facebook here