EP REVIEW: Are You Even Real – Light Grey

Everyone has problems. Ask JAY-Z and he’ll tell you how many he has. Everyone also needs a method of outlet for those situations. In an attempt to exorcise their particular demons, Irish alt-rock duo LIGHT GREY release their second EP, Are You Even Real, this Friday.

The Galway pair take 2000s era pop-punk and add a dash of hip-hop accents to present a four-track EP. Putting those particular genres together is a bold choice to make. Yes, we have rap rock and nu-metal which prove time and time again two worlds can successfully collide, but LIGHT GREY tries to extend this to hip-hip and pop-punk. The follow up to 2018’s Beginner’s Luck, Are You Even Real sees the duo hope Lady Luck smiles on them again.

With its distorted vocals and guitars, Messed Up opens the EP in typical pop-punk fashion. As Ciaran Nevin waxes lyrical about “running in circles”, electronic beats slip under the radar. This certainly pricks our ears but it’s because they feel out of place. Instead of pumping the song up, as this is how they’re typically used, it slows the momentum while the guitars and vocals pull away. The two worlds meld together as the chorus invites us to “Sit back let me tell you all of my problems” to a catchy beat, but it quickly separates again.

Messed Up includes elements of hip-hop which means autotune isn’t too far behind. There’s nothing wrong with a little bit of this but it becomes a crutch for LIGHT GREY. All four songs include it in some way. Whether it’s for vocal effect in Haunted or to create a bigger sound in recent single PRBLM, it becomes expected to have some form of vocal manipulation throughout. Again, there’s nothing wrong with this, but when it becomes a part of the EP’s genetic make up, the question of why starts floating around.

“I’ve been feeling like a loser as of lately”, PRBLM muses. To the tune of a bouncy guitar melody, the introductory vocals and their bright nature are quintessential pop-punk as they smile through their misery. A slower hip-hop beat tempers the song better than in previous instances, but this is still an upbeat number. As we get our slow groove on to the sound of the bass, a catchy bridge sweeps us away for a sing along. This marriage of hip-hop and pop-punk works in this instance and does so quite well. The juxtaposition between a genre which sounds happy in nature against the full fat heaviness of resounding bass and beats hits the sweet spot.

Are You Even Real’s attempt at pioneering a hybrid doesn’t reinvent the wheel. What originally piques our interest isn’t strong enough to keep us engaged. Had LIGHT GREY taken their ideas to the next level and leaned further in to making those beats fuller or expanding upon feelings of despondency, this would have been a tasty EP for them. In order to blaze this trail, there has to be full commitment and it isn’t quite there yet.

Rating: 6/10

Are You Even Real is set for release on October 29th via self-release. 

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