Best Behaviour – Turn On The Green Light (EP Review)
The first thing that you notice about Turn On The Green Light, the début EP from South East London four piece Best Behaviour is the personality of its front man leaping off of the CD and into your home. The way he combines pop melodies with exasperated lyrics to tell a tale of wasted years, procrastination and emotional frustration becomes instantly recognisable, perhaps even universal. An irreverent tune with no patience for the conventions usually employed by the songs of loneliness, Best Behaviour take a much more direct and bullshit free approach, making the song an anthem for no nonsense types sick of the vague sidestepping that has become a feature in this kind of music.
The second thing you notice is that for an EP with only three songs Turn On The Green Light has an incredible amount of variety. It starts out with a folky riff and lyrics tinged with regret that transforms into a defiant indie rock battle cry that peters out into heartbreak. The second track is a laid back ska take on The Undertones classic Ever Fallen In Love and it finishes off with a track reminiscent of an early Foo Fighters power ballad.
As a result the band has no hierarchy, each musician cries for your attention, battling for the top spot. But rather than working against the cohesion of the EP, it excels the talents of the four members; the bassist becomes more pronounced, the drummer is no longer just a member of the rhythm section and the two guitarists duel with each other so you never get confused as to whose playing what.
The fact that this is still a band still playing around with genres and sounds , a band not yet confined by the doldrums of routine or the monotony of a signature sound gives the album a great sense of fun and freedom. They are a band at play, experimenting, jamming, at times they even seem to be (whisper it) actually enjoying themselves. As a listener it becomes a snapshot of a band in a simpler time and more innocent state, provoking paternal instincts as you find yourself thinking what a shame it would be for them to grow up, to become successful, to sell out and settle in the monotony of the studio system. But with such an exciting band the journey may well be worth seeing through.
Best Behaviour’s début EP Turn On The Green Light is available now.
Lee Hazell
