Layne’s Calling – Layne’s Calling

Layne’s Calling

‘Layne’s Calling’ EP

Pavement Entertainment

Alternative Rock

FFO: Godsmack, Creed, Drowning Pool, Nickelback, Puddle of Mudd

After spending 15 years behind his guitar, Joey Cox stepped forth into the limelight, assembling Layne’s Calling and hit the alternative rock scene like a megaton bomb. This year has Layne’s Calling attempting to continue fanning the flames by delivering their eponymous debut EP.

Contrary to any initial thoughts, Layne’s Calling is not the name of a band obsessed with replicating that 90’s Alice In Chains sound. Instead, the sound here is one of late 90’s post-grunge, tracks such as ‘Break Me’, ‘Take Aim’ and ‘Grave Decisions’ all explore that deep, dark side of humanity, crossing soul searching with self-loathing through a sound that would appeal to fans of Godsmack, Creed, Drowning Pool and even early Nickelback with their quiet/loud guitar dynamic, heavy hitting rhythms and dual raspy vocals. Furthermore, this is not a blatant cash in on a revived sound, there is a genuine call for mental health awareness here and the albums closing track ‘Not Well’ might just be one of the most sombre, yet powerful and heartfelt tracks released this year.

As an EP, ‘Layne’s Calling’ is a great start, even if most of the songs fade out far too quickly. What the band need is to accomplish this momentum over a full-length studio album; with that under their belt and the sounds they create, Layne’s Calling have the potential to go very far indeed.

Adam McCann