Single Review: Northbound – The Flaws In Everything

From their humble beginnings as an acoustic solo project back in 2012 Northbound have steadily evolved into a fully fleshed-out band. Jonathon Fraser remains at the creative heart of Northbound, his songwriting sits at the core of the band and his style seems at home here, whether he’s armed with nothing but an acoustic guitar and his voice, or with the full band fleshing out his songs with some muscle. Northbound have now bought us their latest EP, The Flaws In Everything, that was released on the 21st April 2017 via Animal Style Records, and it is now available on two different vinyl variants, white and blue and black and blue, as well as on CD and digital formats.

The Flaws In Everything introduces itself with the strong pop punk opening of Fade To Black, the classic pop punk combination of harmonised vocals and strong catchy guitar hooks is well in evidence, on the basis of this you might think you know what you’re in for, but you’d be wrong, Suitor Type still contains the pop punk element, but this time it’s darker with a touch of post hardcore. The opening duo of tracks is then followed by the crunching distorted riff of Well Water, a song that drifts into alt-rock territory, The Flaws In Everything continues to keep you guessing as Lonely Squid boasts a stripped down acoustic quality until finally Tell Me Something Good, with it’s impassioned chorus, brings things to a reflective thoughtful close.

The Flaws In Everything is a varied genre spanning EP that hits the spot nicely, for me Fade To Black and Well Water are the two stand out tracks, both bring a distorted energy to the EP, but that’s not to put down the remainder of this release, but with such a varied blend of styles on display you’re going to gravitate to the ones that appeal to your sensibilities, in my case it’s the noisier contingent of tracks. Whether every track on this EP will be to your taste is debatable, but I can guarantee there’s a good chance that you’ll find something to your taste on The Flaws In Everything.

The Flaws In Everything can be pre-ordered on physical formats here and digitally here