The other night I got a notification to say there was a new episode of The Distortion Transmission available on YouTube (subscribe to the Muzic.net.nz channel if you haven’t already), so I settled back to see who Will was interviewing this week. It turned out to be Sam “Red” Rogers (vocals) and Jasher (bass) from Auckland band Finger Tight, but Red was completely different to the last time I saw him, so much so that I went off to check my review of Finger Tight when they supported {Melanie} as for a while I was quite confused and thought I had the wrong band in mind. You see, for those who have yet to experience this pop-punk band, we have a group of musicians who are incredibly tight, and then at the front there is this manic animal who will do whatever he can to get the crowd going. When I saw them, I described their music as pop punk with real balls (which was obviously appreciated as they have included it in the press release), but the recorded sound is often quite different to live, so what would this be like?
This double single starts with some turkeys (honest), and the sound of a dated video game, but that is soon swept away as Blink 182-influenced pop punk sweeps in as we kick into ineedsomespace. At just under four minutes this is a great summation of the band, as while they may musically not drop too far into metal, Red can step it up into hardcore style shouting, or singing perfectly in key as if he had not been a madman just before. The song also contains different sections, yet when we get to 2:44 it is an all on mosh with everyone bounding up and down. There is a lot going in the rhythm section of Jasher and James, who throw in lots of complexity yet keep it rooted, which then allows the twin guitars of Glenn and Jesse to mix it up.
Polar Bears & Party Chairs is simpler and more basic in many ways, and features James from the aforementioned Melanie. This is more like standard pop punk, with both Green Day and Blink 182 having an impact. That the two songs are so very different yet very related is definitely a strength, as is the way they veer more into metal than many bands playing in this genre. Certainly, they are heavier in the live environment, and it will be interesting to hear these songs when Auckland finally gets out of lockdown. I came away impressed on the night and feel exactly the same after hearing these two numbers. Finger Tight are definitely a band to keep an eye on.
Rating: 8/10
