Considering This One’s For You, the third EP in Manhattan Coast’s fairly brief existence, is a self-release, it sounds very well produced. So props to whoever accomplished that.

Props also to guitarist Geraint Rees, doing his level best to hold the songs together with some perfectly decent pop/rock structures.

The problems really begin with the lyrics of vocalist Nick Lane, which are honestly so bland and limited he may as well just be repeating the same line on loop across all five songs, or just wailing “blah blah blah” in the American accent he puts on throughout.

It really feels like very little effort has been made by this South Wales outfit to distinguish themselves from anything Fall Out Boy or any of their various and numerous peers and impersonators have done over the last decade.

No one’s here to discourage these lads from making music (I’m sure my words will make absolutely zero difference to the band) but when previous generation of young alt-pop bands were regularly and rightly busted for copying Blink 182 and New Found Glory, the current crop can hardly be allowed to jump the next bandwagon that rolls in.

Furthermore, they never seem to push out of third gear. The songs are so mid-paced and laboured you can almost sense the band wanting to just go for it and a guy in a studio somewhere saying, “Nah, THIS is what sells these days.”

Manhattan Coast tour Europe this year as well as a stint in the UK in February, and they’re clearly getting some chances and have the right people behind them. The best advice they can be given right now is to use their limelight, and not pedal us something we’ve already bought.

– AP