23RAINYDAYS- Wonderful Disaster

ARTIST: 23RAINYDAYS

ALBUM: Wonderful Disaster

LABEL: Radio.Active.Music

REVIEWER: Matthew J.

DATE: 3-25-09

Dark but irrepressibly catchy, this five-song EP delivers enough melancholy emotion to keep fans of modern goth-inspired acts happy but also full of enough hooks to draw in a much wider audience. Imagine the wry humor of The Smiths combined with the clean guitar lines and bouncy synthesizers of The Birthday Massacre and you'll get a rough idea of what opening track "Goodnight and Goodbye" sounds like. "Big Paper Airplanes" is a little quieter and more sensitive, thanks to a slower tempo and hints of piano, but "Monster" immediately brings things back to bouncy and dramatic, with hints of effects-heavy guitar inspired by The Cure running behind its club-friendly rhythm. "The Blackest Days" seems aimed at the emo crowd with a title like that, but it's the EP's strongest offering, with dramatic, if slightly affected, vocals soaring up over epic guitar and keyboard harmonies. Throw in a dance mix of "My Addiction," and this is a brief but tasty teaser of 23RAINYDAYS' forthcoming full-length that's sure to appeal especially to fans of synthpop/rock crossover acts like The Killers and The Bravery.

Check out the band's website at www.23rainydays.com.