The duo to the East London punk outfit, Boy From The Crowd, has created a skull-tapping and brain-busting concoction that will deliberately take all your inhibitions away. Their EP, entitled Where The Bees Come To Die, is ripped from a steady stream of influences that range from Robert Johnson to Jon Spencer. The band is led by eclectic frontman Vinny Piana who successfully melds bluesy soulful renditions with his gravelly vocals and rides this great rollicking rock ‘n’ roll post grunge project into a righteous edge-of-your-seat disaster.
The opening track to the EP, Where The Bees Come To Die, “Revelator,” follows through with an upbeat tune and harmonizes pretty well with some jammy blues. The grunge sound comes pulsing through with the ring of electric '70s guitars and the resounding punk sound comes from the chorusing rocking vocals from Piana that is sung to a pitch with excitable anthem-like fervor. The electric blues solely mixes with the strength of the punk attitude and it pulls loose a great retro sound that does not tire at all.
“All I Need”, has a great energy to the instrumentals. The bluesy instrumentals are solid and the showmanship that Piana shows behind screaming his lyrics is punctuated by the soaring of electric guitars and the pandemonium that ensues. Once the noise breaks, some sweet sounds pull through, from the pang of the guitar keys to the loosening of the string instruments. This produces a smoldering sound that is all without a thought, blues and soul.
“The Road” is the third track on this excellent EP. It definitely has an alternative rock radio feel. You get the feel of some exotic punk coursing through this strangler gullet of a song. It has a great energy and a sonic vibe similar to the Artic Monkeys. A solo guitar riff sounds toward the end of the song pulling audiences into some stellar rock blues.
“Where The Bees Come To Die”, the final track to this eclectic rock EP, opens with a jamming electric keyboard refrain. The drums sets the beat to this gorgeous, mostly guitar encased track. You can feel the blues drenched in this mostly punk entitled song. But for those who are looking for some vocals to tighten up the instrumentals, this track can get a little tiresome. The vocals are set to the side, as the instrumentals are let loose.
Having this raw garage feel can really put a band apart from the national as well as international competition that are paving the headlines of newspapers or venues. And this is exactly what it has done for UK’s Boy From The Crowd. Pulling loose with a blues fusion punk sound, the band has elevated themselves within the grunge and alternative rock as well as indie rock scene. By mixing a lot of their influences into their sound, at best Boy From The Crowd can be described as an eclectic band that plays some electric blues with soul-searching punk brought up into that mixture. And this isn’t what solely makes Boy From The Crowd soar. Their raw vocals, energizing lyrics, and garage grunge makeup breaks all boundaries and dazzles audiences momentarily with sonic suspension.