Paddington

Item: Radiate
Author: Mike Rimmer

Radiate

(2002)

Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

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Label Media InventorThe Phantom Tollbooth2003

melodic rock pop rock power pop

Finnish band Paddington have been around for six years, been through a host of line up changes and settled at this point as a seven piece. They were originally called 3:16 and then Remedy before finally deciding on Paddington. Named after the British bear or the London railway station? Who knows! However they've made a bit of a name for themselves in Scandinavia, playing high profile festivals and have honed their sound to its current confident state. This six track EP presents their bright guitar driven pop rock in fine fashion and features five songs in English with an extra version of Morning Song in their own language.

So what do you get? You get powerful melodies, plenty of guitar and some distinct retro 70's sounds that seem to work together extremely well. "For the Love of God" (not to be confused with anything Rebecca St James might have done) is a funky rock'n'roller with singer Johannes Hagar's incredible soaring powerhouse vocals very much to the fore. If I tell you there's even a moment in the song where it breaks down into something that is very reminiscent of Toto's "Hold the Line," you'll understand where this is coming from.

"Surrender (To Him)" is more guitar driven melodic rock but this time with synths more upfront. This rhythmic slab of Euro-rock builds magnificently into a punch the air chorus. Again it's singer Hagar that stands out on this song that sounds like a refugee from late seventies rock.

The tempo slows slightly for "Right In Front of Me" which is still catchy power pop with its peaks and troughs, the guys have certainly got their song writing working in terms of structure, passion and production but the only weakness is the song lyrics. Like many bands who are writing in English as a second language, sometimes there's a tendency towards cliché.

This is most notable on "Morning Song" where the English translator Andreas Hagar needs to take a long lie down in a dark room after penning the chorus "I just wanna live my life right now and in the morning milk the cow." Maybe this is some Finnish reference to the rural life of the band but I can't really picture them sitting on milking stools doing their thing at dawn. Can you?

And maybe the final song "Palm" should be Psalm? It's certainly Psalm like lyrically with its drifting opener building up to an intensity, which simply ends suddenly in dramatic style.

Overall, Paddington create a listen-able sound if you enjoy the seventies retro thing. Very melodic, plenty of energy and this promises much for the future. Just want to hear a full length project now.

3.5 tocks