The Patrick James Pearson Band - 'Reasons For Moving On' (OUF) Released: 10/10/11

Once a one-man band, if ‘Reasons For Moving On’ is anything to go by, it appears that Patrick James Pearson was right to add two members to his newly formed collective. Outstanding from start to finish, The Patrick James Pearson Band’s debut is a five track EP that plays like a smorgasbord of musical styles, swinging more towards the Sub Pop Grunge genre, concentrating however more on keyboards than guitars.

Having stormed Glastonbury this year, and wowing the BBC Introducing pundits in the process, the Plymouth-based threesome have something special going on. Whether it’s their ability to channel David Bowie, yes that’s right... David Bowie, on the sonically alluring ‘Analogue To Digital’, where the slow tempo drum riff, 70’s keyboard arrangement, and uncharacteristically quiet bass playing create the perfect backdrop for Pearson to whale over, or their love of all things keys, demonstrated on ‘Wild Eyes (Cannot Be Tamed)‘, where the song’s introduction hears an old school hall-esque piano capture your ears attention.

The first single is of the same name as its EP’s title, and is quite possibly one of the catchiest tunes you’ve heard over the past few months. With an almost Friendly Fires meets early Kings of Leon meets Hard-Fi, who the band went on tour with this year, there’s no question you’ll be hitting the repeat button the second you hear the first chord strum. Mid-tempo, with a calming break towards the end of the record, there isn’t a single reason that can be identified as to why this song shouldn’t be amongst your favourite of 2011.

Closing out the EP are the tracks ‘YOURLIFELINEISSUCHAFINELINE‘, a haunting number that features some pretty dark lyrical feedback - “This is the pill that you choked/ Rasping taxation you rolled and you croaked and your body was breathing, but your colour was gone/ And these are the holes that you dig,” but just before this comes the stand out moment - ‘Medication’. Again with a Bowie-type sound to it, similar to that of the legendary ‘Life On Mars’, the band’s five minute physical and mental diagnosis is like a cry for prescription drugs one minute and then a detox list the next.

With a chanting break that hears the band tick off things people think they shouldn’t have association with, which to begin with includes things like alcohol and hard times, but then goes on to include rock ‘n’ roll, Ray Charles, and Iggy Pop, to which the band then proclaim, “Go f*ck yourselves.” With that statement and this EP, it’s almost as if they’re talking to their doubters. Solid from start to finish, The Patrick James Pearson Band hit the nail on the head with this release.