Broadcaster: Spin

Artist: Broadcaster
Title: Spin
Format Reviewed: MP3
Format Released: 16th October 2015
Reviewed By: Will Bright

Before I say anything about the four songs Broadcaster have released in their latest EP, their first release since 2013's A Million Hours LP, I just want to say that this is one of the best crafted EPs I have listened to in a long while. Broadcaster have fully taken advantage of the shorter format to create something that flows so perfectly that it can only be listened to, and enjoyed, in full. Spin should be held up as a model not just for punk bands, but any band who want to learn the art of putting together an album, not just individual songs.

In a way, this is weird, because as individual songs go, there is so much less musical variety in this than in A Million Hours: where that LP delved into a more rockabilly side of Americana, Spin is just four punk jams, which may not be pushing the boat out in terms of songwriting originality but focus so much on quality and interconnectivity that the end result is a treat.

The first three songs are the punkiest, and all under the three minute mark, with Spin Around the World closing the EP on a longer, slower note. Again, the structure deserves more than a mere mention here: Spin Around the World is to all effects a single placed at the end of its own EP, with its B-sides serving both as great tunes in themselves and as a seven minute crescendo to the final song. As a song in itself it definitely deserves the title of single, perfectly hitting that balance between great energy and slower pacing, all revolving around a stonking chorus, before closing the EP out with an old-school radio broadcast of the sort found from the first few seconds of the album.

And those punk jams? Next to You is constant energy, frantic from the start to the finish while still keeping that catchiness that makes something stick around far longer than its closing notes. Then a brief breather before that energy picks right up where it left off and we're blasted full pelt into the same catchiness with All The Wrong Reasons. 

One of the benefits of a shorter EP as opposed to a full-length album is that it is, in theory, easier to make four songs work as well together as on their own: all too often, a catchy jam is followed up by something lacklustre, making you linger on the previous song as the next becomes background noise. Broadcaster don't let that happen: by the time we recover from one song, the next has caught our ears just as effectively. The music is different: Don't Say Much brings in a slightly grungier influence, while the others are pure punk, but the energy and vibe is so consistent, and consistently excellent, that the first three songs almost function as one who seven minute punk jam in themselves.

It should be pretty apparent that I am a fan of this EP. Broadcaster have achieved something truly enviable here, a release that shows how far they've come since their debut in 2007. It's hard not to see this as a statement, with the radio broadcast interludes perfectly fitting into their name: Broadcaster are here, and they want us all to know.