After doing the magazine for a number of years, I have started to receive second and third discs put out by the same bands. Oftentimes it takes a year or two to create the disc, but it always feels as if the band just sent me their last EP or LP a short time ago. This is the case with Scale Model, who garnered a very respectable rating for their last EP back in July of 2005. The band has came back with their “Humdrum” EP, a compilation of three new, original tracks and a cover of the Depeche Mode classic “Enjoy The Silence”. The first track on the disc is “Merry Go Round”, and it shows Scale Model as a mature act, as the churning instrumentation of the act stays back in dormancy until Megan’s vocal kicks up. The combined forces of the band and the vocal moves ever so slightly from alternative rock into something much more emotive, much more in the vein of acts like The Appleseed Cast. The band is bold in placing “Merry Go Round” as the first track on the disc.
Sure, the song is amazing but it is also tied for the longest runtime of any track on “Humdrum”, surpassing by 90 seconds the next longest song. I can see the band’s logic during the track, as they are able to provide a monolithic, strong statement showing what the band is capable of and what they can provide to their listeners, but in the hands of anyone less talented, disaster could have came along quickly. Even though the original content on this EP is less than fifteen minutes, Scale Model is able to create a specific sound that individuals will be able to determine is purely Scale Model’s. The songs show be on alternative radio this second. While the band is not exploiting current trends in alternative music, the classic nature of these tracks, pushing on acts like Sarah McLachlan, The Cranberries, and the like should bring fans both young and old to the band’s flock.
Scale Model needs to come out with a full album here soon, so that individuals can be shown exactly how talented of an act Scale Model is. Individuals can hear hints of that on “Humdrum” and their previous discs, but the band could do so much more on a full album. Find all and buy them, and wait for the next release by the band.
Top Track: Fourteen
Rating: 7.0/10
Scale Model – Humdrum EP / 2006 Self / 4 Tracks / http://www.scalemodelmusic.com / Reviewed 31 August 2006
[JMcQ]