Dashwood – ‘Dashwood’ EP Track by Track Review

Fresh faced punks Dashwood have just put the finishing touches on their latest EP (the eponymous ‘Dashwood’) and Easynoiz just got a sneak peak. While they may have run out of things to call their releases they clearly haven’t run out of ideas or energy. Here is what you can expect from the EP when you get your grubby mits on it sometime soon.

Not Like You – A ‘classic’ Dashwood intro track. Hoarse vocals and tight guitars launching into a frantic second half that is more indebted to powerviolence than straight up hardcore. Imagine Iron Curtain meets Witch Cult and you won’t be far off.

Control – A track that could easily slot into the band’s first EP featuring all the growling anger and frantic fretwork that we have come to expect. Perhaps a little short, as it feels like the kind of song ready to take off in the moments just before it ends. 

Get Out – See’s the band drawing heavily from the classic ‘80s hardcore sound .An ultra-fast bass intro and tight powercords pave the way for the EP’s best track to burst into life. It is not however a rip off of the ‘80s sound but more of a reinterpretation, with the semi-spoken middle eight fans have come to expect breaking the mould mid-song. Get Out shows the band can blend influences nicely without the result sounding either too generic or too forced.

Justice – Last original track on the EP. Fast, punchy and angriest by far. Perhaps also the most ‘generic’ hardcore sounding track on the EP but it still well executed enough that this isn’t a chore to listen too.

Police Beat – An SSD cover. If you’re a fan of the original you’ll also be a fan of this version. While Dashwood have hardly done anything knew with the arrangement or style it is a near flawlessly executed cover. You could probably argue that a band’s ability to records someone else’s work well is one of the things you can determine their musicianship by. If so then Dashwood get full marks here.

Overall ‘Dashwood’ is another solid release from a band that I like. It does however seem a little ‘confined’. The bands’ previous release, ‘My Disobidence’ was full of experimentation and cliché breaking ideas whereas this EP feels like the band has gone back into their comfort zone a little. Push the boat out a bit more next time lads and you’ll have a cracking record to show us.

Patch