EP REVIEW: ‘All Out Of Love’ by Red House Glory

Being exceptionally prolific isn’t always a wise move. There’s always a danger of any act spreading their musical talents too thinly when putting out releases on a regular basis. It wouldn’t be totally unfair to expect the same from London’s Red House Glory on new EP All Out Of Love – its predecessor Heart Of Gold did only come six months previous after all.

Thankfully, that isn’t the case. The fact that All Out Of Love only consists of three songs certainly helps, allowing them to explore different areas of their musical oeuvre without becoming overly repetitive. The only real thing these three songs have in common is the overall skeleton at their core – there are no flashy bells and whistles here, just three solid, straightforward rock songs that get the job done. Pray Now has a pleasant jangle thanks to its indie-splashed guitars, while the title track paints with broader brushstrokes for a more expansive ballad and Painkiller (the strongest track on this EP) takes the form of a less bluesy Royal Blood.

If it all sounds a bit basic, it’s because it kind of is. Red House Glory are by no means reinventing the wheel at any point on these three songs. But when everyone is trying to stand out by being as outlandish as humanly possible, to see a band embrace simplicity with such earnestness and quality results is something to be definitely commended.

The main gripe though, comes on the title track, particularly with frontman Lewis Knaggs’ vocals. While his broody, Matt Skiba-ish tones add that extra bit of punch to the EP’s rockier tracks, the song’s slower nature makes them feel more drawn out than they really need to be, and while it doesn’t have a massively detrimental effect, it’s marks a bit of a dip in the EP’s run. Still, this isn’t a huge deal. All Out Of Love still feels accomplished enough to class as a success, and has just that right amount of sparkle that a full-length would benefit from. A hint of great things to come, then?

7/10

For fans of: Royal Blood, Ash, Feeder
Words by Luke Nuttall

‘All Out Of Love’ by Red House Glory is released on 11th December.