Solids – Else EP

Solids are a Canadian duo from Montreal, they are comprised of guitarist and vocalist Xavier Germain-Poitras and drummer Louis Guillemette, prior to forming Solids back in 2009 they were both active members of hardcore acts in their native Canada. They have been relentlessly touring in the two long years that have passed since their debut album Blame Confusion was released, now they’re back with a new EP, Else.

Blank Stare and Blurs are both excellent Alt-Rock influenced Lo-Fi numbers that tick all the boxes, on the flip side of this Shine and Wait It Out are in comparison sluggish and sullen, whilst I’m all for a touch of variety from a band the songs contained on this EP just don’t seem to gel together. In essence Else comes across as a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde affair, on the one hand we have two excellent upbeat alt-rockers that will happily reside on my playlist, but then their darker side takes hold with two listless meandering numbers.

This is the essence of Alt Rock condensed into twenty minutes and whether you will like this release depends whether you are a fan of that genre. For me this is a hit and miss affair, this probably reflects my tastes but also the fact that this EP shows the various facets of Solids, they are unafraid to be experimental in their compositions and that is something to be admired, but the downside is that sometimes experiments produce unfortunate results.

Else can be purchased here.