Free Throw: Lavender Town

Artist: Free Throw
Title: Lavender Town EP
Format Reviewed: MP3
Format Released: 29th April 2014
Reviewed By: Ben Goold

Nashville, Tennessee: the "music city", famous for it's rich country music culture and the likes of Taylor Swift, but it's emerging bands like Free Throw that prove the city has a bit of flavour for punk. The 5-piece emo-infused-punk-rock outfit have recently signed to Count Your Lucky Stars who have re-released their Lavender Town EP as a taste of what's to come for a potential full-length this summer. Full of assertive, heartfelt songs of sorrow with a humbling honesty, Lavender Town is nothing short of a delight, especially if you’re having one of ‘those’ days.

The EP opens with Slam With The Best Or Jam Like The Rest, two minutes of aggressive angst that surprisingly rests at an easy mid-tempo, this combined with a major key still doesn't detract from the energy and feeling within the yelled vocal. Track two, Now Kith keeps things simple. It has an early Taking Back Sunday vibe: one for shouting out with your finger pointing in the air. The clean crisp chords opening the title track  Lavender Town lead to what is a slow ballad, softer and cleaner than the songs surrounding it. Final track Pennsylvania Dutch is a piece of sincere honesty, with a 90’s emo style half-time breakdown to round off the record.

I hear a lot of resemblance to modern day pop-punk within this record, reminding me of bands such as Knuckle Puck, Citizen and maybe even Title Fight. Although this is a re-release of an EP that came out over a year ago, I still feel it is a good example of what is to come from Free Throw and after hearing it, I eagerly anticipate their full length!