Rocker (feedbot)
Gold Member
Blame Shakespeare or blame Greek mythology but either way, when you hear of three sisters, you can’t help but think of witches. And perhaps that’s what GFM (or Gold, Frankincense, & Myrrh to those in the know) are. After all, they play in witch-inspired black & green stage costumes and their music is a wicked brew of pop-punk and metal. Made up of the English sisters, Maggie on bass and vocals, guitarist CJ and Lulu on drums, they’re quite the creative force and over a series of EPs have solidified a sound that feels like Memphis May Fire fronted by Kellin Quinn or maybe a muscular Flyleaf. You could call it a spin on easycore, although the band prefer to call it ‘beautycore’ which isn’t a bad name for a sound that’s heavy while also being simple, fun, and unashamedly alluring.
Since being teenagers, the sisters have been building their reputation with smaller releases and a powerful live show and, finally, it has all paid off. They were ‘discovered’ by Fozzy’s Chris Jericho and whisked away on tour which opened a gateway to bigger things, so their new EP ‘Framing My Perception’ has a lot riding on it, but will it cast a spell on you?
Well – the six songs here continue where the ‘Operation Take Over’ EP left off. It’s the same upbeat approach and remains accessible even with Maggie throwing in deep growls and screams. Each song has its own flavour so ‘Burn Your Fears’ kicks off with solid slice of bouncy metal riffing and growly vocals, the title track is rockier and they mix things up with gentle rapping on ‘The Enemy’. It’s all energetic, inoffensive and surprisingly effective.
Likeable though these songs are, however, there’s a giant-sized fly in the ointment. After all the band’s hard work it’s a shame they have fallen (or perhaps were pushed?) into the path of not one, but three producers; a tag-team made up of Kellen McGregor, Blaise Rojas and Weston Evans. That’s one producer per band member; no wonder everything sounds so bland. Either they compromised on everything or forgot to include the thing that matters: the band. So although it sounds ‘fine’ it’s also devoid of personality; synths clutter the songs with swish-a-swish-a that makes it sound as though they’re ashamed of guitars, and although the band’s earlier releases aren’t exactly shy of autotune or synth tracks, here they’re not adding texture they work as filler, hijacking the songs. While there’s nothing wrong with synths per se, when everything is smoothed out you’re left with nothing but metal-flavour candy floss.
This over-production extends to the clean vocals which are so heavily autotuned that the opening to ‘Burn Your Fears’ is almost wince-inducing. The idea is to make a stark contrast to the screamed main vocal but the result is so robotic, the singing hardly feels real and at best it sounds like Justine Jones trading-off against Alvin and the Chipmunks. While you can at least find enjoyment in the song’s flow, ‘Honest Abe’ lacks even that and is simply dreadful. A mix of bland riffs, hoarse barking and counterpoint vocals autotuned to a pitch only dogs can hear it’s supposed to shift gears between sections but listening to it is about as enjoyable as dancing naked in the woods. In winter. In the wind and rain. On some thistles. From a production standpoint, few of the songs fare much better but at least their integrity doesn’t rely on ill-fitting parts hammocked together.
Once you’ve drained the personality from a light, fun song, there’s not a lot left. This leads to the strange irony that that the straightforward whoa-filled pop-punk of ‘Why So Toxic?’ has the most going for it. Maggie’s voice has a lovely gravelly tone, the chorus is catchy and it plays on the band’s grittier edge so why the other songs couldn’t have used the same sound is a mystery (or a case of producer finger-pointing).
GFM have sold their souls to the devil on ‘Framing My Perception’. It sounds like they’re shooting for mass appeal but they’ve missed and hit their own foot. The EP pales in comparison to their previous work and the production doesn’t so much help the songs as sabotage them. With so much riding on it, you can’t help but think of an overladen broomstick trying to take flight and crashing into the mud. Avoid this one, it struggles to conjure the same magic as their ‘Operation Take Over’ EP and it’s difficult to listen to, let alone like.
IAN KENWORTHY
Since being teenagers, the sisters have been building their reputation with smaller releases and a powerful live show and, finally, it has all paid off. They were ‘discovered’ by Fozzy’s Chris Jericho and whisked away on tour which opened a gateway to bigger things, so their new EP ‘Framing My Perception’ has a lot riding on it, but will it cast a spell on you?
Well – the six songs here continue where the ‘Operation Take Over’ EP left off. It’s the same upbeat approach and remains accessible even with Maggie throwing in deep growls and screams. Each song has its own flavour so ‘Burn Your Fears’ kicks off with solid slice of bouncy metal riffing and growly vocals, the title track is rockier and they mix things up with gentle rapping on ‘The Enemy’. It’s all energetic, inoffensive and surprisingly effective.
Likeable though these songs are, however, there’s a giant-sized fly in the ointment. After all the band’s hard work it’s a shame they have fallen (or perhaps were pushed?) into the path of not one, but three producers; a tag-team made up of Kellen McGregor, Blaise Rojas and Weston Evans. That’s one producer per band member; no wonder everything sounds so bland. Either they compromised on everything or forgot to include the thing that matters: the band. So although it sounds ‘fine’ it’s also devoid of personality; synths clutter the songs with swish-a-swish-a that makes it sound as though they’re ashamed of guitars, and although the band’s earlier releases aren’t exactly shy of autotune or synth tracks, here they’re not adding texture they work as filler, hijacking the songs. While there’s nothing wrong with synths per se, when everything is smoothed out you’re left with nothing but metal-flavour candy floss.
This over-production extends to the clean vocals which are so heavily autotuned that the opening to ‘Burn Your Fears’ is almost wince-inducing. The idea is to make a stark contrast to the screamed main vocal but the result is so robotic, the singing hardly feels real and at best it sounds like Justine Jones trading-off against Alvin and the Chipmunks. While you can at least find enjoyment in the song’s flow, ‘Honest Abe’ lacks even that and is simply dreadful. A mix of bland riffs, hoarse barking and counterpoint vocals autotuned to a pitch only dogs can hear it’s supposed to shift gears between sections but listening to it is about as enjoyable as dancing naked in the woods. In winter. In the wind and rain. On some thistles. From a production standpoint, few of the songs fare much better but at least their integrity doesn’t rely on ill-fitting parts hammocked together.
Once you’ve drained the personality from a light, fun song, there’s not a lot left. This leads to the strange irony that that the straightforward whoa-filled pop-punk of ‘Why So Toxic?’ has the most going for it. Maggie’s voice has a lovely gravelly tone, the chorus is catchy and it plays on the band’s grittier edge so why the other songs couldn’t have used the same sound is a mystery (or a case of producer finger-pointing).
GFM have sold their souls to the devil on ‘Framing My Perception’. It sounds like they’re shooting for mass appeal but they’ve missed and hit their own foot. The EP pales in comparison to their previous work and the production doesn’t so much help the songs as sabotage them. With so much riding on it, you can’t help but think of an overladen broomstick trying to take flight and crashing into the mud. Avoid this one, it struggles to conjure the same magic as their ‘Operation Take Over’ EP and it’s difficult to listen to, let alone like.
IAN KENWORTHY