The New York-based Five O'Clock Heroes are at last making an impact on the public (if not media) consciousness after extensive touring in the last year or so. Those in the know can't understand why the band's irresistibly tuneful brand of New Wave-influenced pop-rock isn't grabbing more headlines. It can only be a matter of time.
Skin Deep, the latest single from last year's splendid album Bend To The Breaks, is another slice of polished songwriting. From its distinctive opening of scratchily stuttering guitar chords, to catchy hooks and upbeat chorus, leading on to a crisp ending, this pacy, danceable song moves along with deceptive easiness as if it just had to be this way. And at just under three minutes, like all the better singles, it leaves you wanting more.
In fact, the one criticism you could make is that the feelgood vibe of the music doesn't match the cynical mood of the lyrics, as reflected in the persona of a disenchanted lover: "I don't trust anyone / Cause everybody says I'm wrong to care / For anyone who comes into my world." The full-throated vocals of Antony Ellis and the joyful energy of rest of the band are so life-affirming that the words don't seem to matter much. We just go with the flow.
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