Enileven have made a commendable attempt at phonetically spelling the Dublin to Wexford national road. While the contentious would argue that it‘s simply n-eleven, we don‘t deduct marks for spelling. The Dublin four-piece released their first EP, ‘Every Day’s a Revolution’ during the summer, having recorded earlier this year at Temple Lane Studios.

There’s nothing revolutionary about ‘Every Day’s a Revolution’ — but at least the day is still one. Break Of Light’s U2-like strumming does nothing to command initial attention outside of lax comparisons. It’s a U2 car, crushed and baled into a square before slotting nicely under thousands of identical cubes. Peter Neri’s vocals are nothing if not enthusiastic and eager. He can sing, no doubt, but his vocal is often dictated against a uniformed layer of soaring bass and drums compressed to a mesh of generic riffs.

By the time title track, Every Day’s a Revolution comes around, it’s hard to remember the difference between the two tracks. Peter’s chant-like determination prove that he’s a good front man, his charisma shines through even on a recording. It’s as if they went from nothing to everything, with his over-produced vocal elevated enough to fill a stadium. While not rocking any worlds, it’s still a song you wouldn’t dislike. It disproves the marmite theory–things can just be ‘meh’.

Saying that, hindered Wake Up is not their direction either, weighing down vocals with echoed effects you can only find on those neon plastic microphones you’d get as a kid. The lyrics don‘t help the case, with Neri crooning “Wake up your king inside, you’re good company to be around, you wake up all alone, singing this beautiful song.” It doesn’t go anywhere, only to display that Peter is better at singing than talk-singing. With no coherent rhythm, it’s as if they’re simply showing off every instrument they have at their disposable. Screams of “Get up you’re all alone!” carries us out, like an aggressive irritant rather than cathartic expression.

Enileven can play, we like that. It’s the refrain that they’ve yet to master, the craft of not hitting everything at once, for the whole duration of the track. This first EP lacks the personality to keep listeners going back for repeated spins. A firm stamp of individuality and stripped-back production would be the perfect accompaniment to these tunes, and would most certainly result in an exciting twist or two on the monotonous stretch of cross-county road.