You know you’re in for some good skate punk when the drums eagerly roll in to energetically pummel you around the head after a whole two seconds of a guitar intro. Call It A Day waste little time in letting you know that this is going to be technical and this is going to be fast-paced punk rock. Two minutes of the opening song on their debut EP Mind The Gap zip by before the outdo snaps you out of your sugar rush reverie.
It might be the multicultural nature of their country, or their history of world class, fearless cuisine, but French bands always seem to have that little bit extra in terms of genres to add to their punk rock ratatouille. Call It A Day are no different and this is typified by their ability to rip through skate punk verses before smoothly transitioning into some head banging riffs. ‘Empty Promises’ adds some harmonies adds some harmonies to make it a standout song and a promise of what is to come from these guys.
Mind The Gap closes with the song ‘Valium’, which possibly has the best chorus of the three songs. One slight flaw is a verse that does little to distinguish itself from countless other euro-skate punk offerings. If anything, that’s being picky, as it’s no easy task to craft vocals over a mile-a-minute skate punk verse. Once the song slows a little the vocals truly shine and some intricate guitar work and an instrumental break lead into an outro that showcases how good the vocals can be.
Like their culinary countrymen and women who put French cooking on the map, Call It A Day have the ingredients and talent at their disposal to create something truly memorable. With this EP they are serving tasty portions of skate punk. A little extra prep work in the songwriting kitchen and these guys will be a real force. I’m eagerly awaiting their next course to see if they have tweaked the receipt to turn a good band into a great one.
Stream the EP below.