Call Upon The Author

We here at call Upon The Author have a fondness for the lads at Jelly Maid Music. They put out CDs we like from bands we really admire. So it comes as no surprise that when Melodramas announced the release of their debut EP, I snapped up a copy pretty sharpish. I’m glad I did too, as there are only a hundred of them to go round. This is quite a lovely little disc too, full of quirky indie pop tunes that are immediately gripping and stand ready to be blasted out of speakers on a summer day. Opener ‘Albert Rd’, about the street at the heart of Portsmouth’s thriving music community is a loving tribute to one of the bands regular haunts and invokes the spirit of the place perfectly, from it’s small gig venues to the numerous Indian restaurants and fish & chip shops. ‘Kids Get Killed’ has been compared to The Enemy, rather harshly I feel, as it’s a good little tune and free of any relentless pandering to specific markets. ‘Jessica’ may have the feel of something we’ve heard before, but there are plenty of bands with hugely derivative songs out there, so we’ll let that one slide. All in all, this is a good little snapshot of a band on the cusp of stepping up to the next level and it leaves all of us at CUTA waiting for EP Two!

check out Melodramas at: www.myspace.com/melodramastheband