Still Automatic – Hatred of Release

Hatred of Release is a ten minute EP featuring three songs. In that time frame you start to get an idea of what Still Automatic have to offer, sadly – it cuts off before you get the chance to really dive in and appreciate them completely.

It begins with the title track, Hatred of Release, a guitar-heavy rock song that showcases a solid recording quality and full, amble sound. At the start, the song hints towards some turn of the century Epitaphpunk sounds (1208, I’m looking at you) before morphing into a Green Day Warning era sound.

The slight variation makes it sound like two separate songs rather than just the one and they continue that with Lost Homes. The blistering guitar solos that layer the song create a (somewhat cheesy) classic rock vibe until the vocals kick in and return to that Green Day pop-punk style – woahs and all. Only this time they’ve moved towards the American Idiot spectrum of influence.

Finally, on the last track of the album – 8 Years 2 Days, Still Automatic changes gears again with a softer pop-punk sound that’s obviously influenced by modern-era No Use For A Name. This time vocalist Tony Lash goes for a smoother Tony Sly delivery rather than the raspy Billie Joe Armstrong sound. Add in layered background vocals, a slightly thinner sound recording and lyrics of a failed relationship you have the new school No Use For A Name in the bag.

Still, despite the relative success of all three songs – Hatred of Release still feels incomplete. It appears as if they’re missing something and could have benefited from the inclusion of a few extra songs to enable the listener to fully engulf themselves with Still Automatic. As it is, it just leaves you wanting a little bit more.