Text: Florian Baudouin

There are some bands that after one single feel like they’ve been in the scene for years. After releasing their first single, “Taking the Hood”, which was noticed by the local scene, we had the opportunity to see Bornside defend the tracks of their first album on stage during their first concert. It was noticeable that the audience came out in droves to cheer them on and like us, were eagerly awaiting the release of their first EP, “Light Rain and Dick Moves”, available today on all platforms, to make a more enlightened opinion.

This five track EP opens with the track “Taking the Hood”, the first single released by the band. This track will immediately set the tone, as it’s a summary of what makes Bornside’s identity: pure and catchy riffs and melodies, aggressive and efficient rhythmic lines, choirs and screamed bridges with a hardcore side. Most of the time, when you listen to pop-punk, you can get that sunny feeling that everything is simple, both musically and philosophically. With Light Rain and Dick Moves, Bornside also gives us this atmosphere, but it seems to be only a façade. There is indeed a more nocturnal atmosphere, with, as the album title suggests, a light rain that is more refreshing than unpleasant and a latent melancholy. This melancholic aspect is found on Somewhere, the last track of the EP, which questions the place of everyone in this world and the desire to find a place where there is no need to wear a mask to be accepted. This track perfectly fulfils its function of closing track, as it takes us for 4 minutes towards the end of the opus, passing through clear, reverbed parts, choirs and lets us leave the EP on a nostalgic note. On this first EP, one can note the obvious influence of monuments of the genre such as Blink-182 or Sum 41, but the frequent use of screaming also makes us think of Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!

The only downside of the EP seems to be that the tracks sound a bit similar to each other. The atmosphere of Light Rain and Dick Moves remains intriguing, however, and there is no doubt that once fully developed, it will captivate its audience.