1QA: 1QA

By Chris Leggett

Formerly of Wellington, now of Melbourne, 1QA’s debut album is a ripper - if a somewhat mixed bag. Opening track The Anarchy is a rip-snorting rocker - a behemoth of a song setting the tone for one high-octane record. Well, at least that’s what one senses the rest of the album will sound like. The following song I Will couldn’t be more different however, the tempo gets slowed considerably, and the guitars less driving and more ambient. Phil Jones and Josh Heptinstall ditch the rough, shouty vocals of the first song, opting instead to sing in a much more melodic fashion. The pace picks up marginally again with Know Your Way, but it is not until the brilliant Secrets that we encounter anything resembling the frenetic pace of the opener. The mood of this eight-track mini album switches constantly between hot and cold - something that I think should have been remedied with the under-rated art of track listing. A small issue that doesn’t change the fact that 1QA writes a kick-ass song, no matter the pace.

Related Information

Artists

1QA

Issues

NZ Musician

April/May 2005