Galway four piece Take the Stand have been together less than a year but, judging by début EP ‘It’s Who You Know’, they are a band who know what direction they are heading. They wear their influences – who according to their Breaking Tunes page include Biffy Clyro, Incubus and Stone Temple Pilots – on their sleeves and have a definite theme to their music.
If the name Take the Stand doesn’t inform you of the ideas behind their music, the lyrics of You Only Think You Can Hide and Time for a Change certainly will. “We know what they’ve done; the so-called powerful ones/Now it’s time for us to take the reins and shake off these shackles and chains/It’s time for us to make a change,” from the latter tell us everything about their ideas. On Rising Tide lead singer Stephen Curran curses all the time he has wasted in his life, “Why do today what you can do tomorrow?, is the dream that stole the show,” he sings.
While it’s refreshing to have a band who actually says something these days, the music they produce doesn’t have the power to support the lyrics. The musicianship is never in question – there is a fine solo serving as the outro to Cold Walks – the songs are just not catchy enough to sustain listener interest. The vocals too, lack a little something. They never let seem to covey the requisite power that the lyrics need to effectively communicate their message.
Ultimately, the Take the Stand’s reach exceeds their grasp. Their ideas seem good and their passion for what they do shines through in the five tracks. There is something lacking throughout though and the songs don’t command further listens. Closer Wildcat is the epitome of this. They tick all the boxes of the epic they are aiming for. It is over five minutes, it has several good gear changes and quality instrumentation all the way through. It just never really grabs the listener in the way it could.