Itch - Manifesto - Part 1 Review

Itch - Manifesto - Part 1 Review

Lets begin by stating the obvious, it doesn't all sound like The King Blues, it’s not as good as the first two King Blues albums but it is still Itch. The King Blues may no longer be a band but this carries the same message as the band carried from the beginning, however diluted it may have become by the end.

Back to the EP, Itch has clearly gone all out to show his anger in the track ‘London is Burning’, he shouts over a fairly aggressive almost dubstep backing. It sounds like he’s given up on his cause, he know longer feels anything can be done about the corruption of the country. It’s a little repetitive throughout and is the weakest track on the EP in my opinion, it was the first track previewed ahead of the EP’s release and almost completely put me off, however it has grown on my over time, it’s the ‘We Are Fucking Angry’ track, angry for the cause but comes across as angry to be angry.

The next track is ‘Spooky Kids’, thus far the only track to have an actual music video and not just a lyric video. Again it’s a fairly repetitive track, Itch is angry still about the state of things, he’s in support of the youth of Britain. It’s intended as the stand out track on the EP, it’s the one that’s clearly being pushed as a potential single, it’s not my track but again it’s a very strong effort.

The next track is ‘True’, in which Itch attacks movies and what they have told him about how the world works. This track goes along as a slower, more traditional King Blues track with a very confusing burst of ‘London Is Burning’. It’s one of the stronger tracks of the EP based around the vocals which aren't overly angry for the sake of it. It’s a change from the angry two tracks from the album, other than the very confusing burst of ‘London is Burning’.

And now on to the the final and in my opinion best track from the EP. It’s a return to the roots of the original King Blues stuff, punky, ska-y and completely restored my faith in Johnny ‘Itch’ Fox. Featuring Tim Armstrong of Operation Ivy and Rancid only added to the quality of the track. No unnecessary anger, shouting or heavy banging backing tracks, it sounds like The King Blues, it’s obviously ridiculous to think that everything done will sound like The King Blues but he shouldn't lose every aspect that gained him his fans to begin with. 

Overall I rate this EP highly, it shows Itch is willing to take risks but still show his old self, it shows he still hasn't given up on his cause and finally it shows that he can still make quality music, after the final King Blues album I had lost some faith in Itch’s ability to make music to the brilliance that was ‘Under The Fog’, while this still doesn't touch that it’s heading in the right direction.