Penguins Kill Polar Bears - Vessels & Veins

Seriously, what do the Scottish feed their young children on these days? It must be something special because the list of talented Scottish artists has just grown and grown and grown, with every band a potential successful export. Penguins Kill Polar Bears are on this list and have already been named alongside media favourites Biffy Clyro and my personal favourites The Xcerts, so it doesn't seem like it will really take too long until we've all heard of them.

Four track EP 'Vessels & Veins' explodes with post-rock tendencies, it's all about crashing percussion and effect soaked guitar melodies that often at times recalls a sound that has made Explosions In The Sky popular. Vocally I don't think that Ben Proudlock could sound more Scottish, whether or not that actually works to his advantage I'm unsure, but it doesn't make me cringe and it seems to fit perfectly with the emotional attack of the guitar play. It is only perhaps chorus wise that I feel the band can't quite match up to the heights of their contemporaries. Biffy Clyro have a nack of writing a decent chorus, and The Xcerts, even despite the experimentation of their last album, still managed to create an album with almost anthemic chorus' at times and this is something Penguins Kill Polar Bears need to learn, when to reign in the experimental sensabilities.

'Vessels & Veins' is only the second EP release from a band two years old so it seems a little strong to ask them to be as good as a band like Biffy Clyro who have been going for years, but this release shows a definite potential and I don't doubt for one second that this band will have any problem gaining fans, except for maybe that perculiar name.

3.5 / 5

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