nevereleven - Crunch

Mon 17th Jul, 2006 in Music Reviews

Our current underground scene is experiencing a subliminal shift in dynamics. The bands that were found on the live circuit week after week are now inconspicuously lessening their appearances. Is it boredom? Is it a loss of faith in Melbourne crowds? Or are we starting to feel the unimaginable pinch where some bands are starting to consider a potential dwindle from existence? Whichever way I analyse it, it’s evident that upcoming bands are cleaning up where many of Melbourne’s pinpoint acts are now momentarily absent. Cue nevereleven.

Many can vouch for nevereleven as a band that has the ability to surface from the depths of the city’s underground and explode in popularity. Given the band’s articulate way of formulating hook-driven tracks with a palatable reputation, there’s no doubt that nevereleven can exceed such expectations. ‘Bucket Love’ drives nevereleven’s debut EP to the forefront of your mind and easily secures your wandering attention in strong style.

There’s the obvious Aussie rock-fuelled approach to their craft, yet nevereleven proclaim an insatiability that allows the band to argue unanimously their sound is anything but generical. Copious riffs breach any notion that this is not the case and strategic bridges accentuate nevereleven’s mission to offer a permeable melody. ‘Between The Clouds’ resounds the momentum for Crunch and its purpose to provide an evocative recording naturally comes to fruition.

The stellar quality of Crunch can’t be overlooked and the intrinsic abilities from our local foursome follow through in the form of the underlying antics of ‘Tasteless’. Staggered stylings in ‘V.A.S’ bring to the fore an added appeal to Crunch’s elevating prowess, as paralleled by Cameron Nugent’s soaring vocals, where nevereleven exemplify their efforts as a crucial feature of our scene. As the bonus live version of ‘Between The Clouds’ emerges, you can be guaranteed that nevereleven are just as obverse in a live setting as they are on a recording. Cameron himself was quoted as saying that “if anything, at least we can say that we were the first band to release an EP on a memory stick!” With Crunch to verify nevereleven’s appealing strengths, I doubt this will be the case.