Reviewed by Steve Best

Hmmm. A cheerful bunch of faces greet me on the sleeve, which is just as well, because this EP is utterly grim. I don’t often hear CDs that are this bad, but with respect to Convinced! I’m definitely not. When practically the first thing you hear is out-of-tune guitar on opener “Not There”, it’s not a good sign. Unfortunately things get worse, as the timing is way too loose, particularly when the rather inept drums kick in (well sort of) on “I Know”, accompanied by some bizarre upper range guitar (or possibly keyboard) noodling. Things actually improve marginally on the closing ballad “I Love You”, but then Convinced! stumble further by including out-takes on two further tracks. Some bands can get away with this, but whether this is an attempt at laughing at themselves or not, it only serves to underline the multitude of shortcomings in this undoubtedly keen but woefully inexperienced band. These songs should never have been put onto CD this early in your career chaps. Spend time, much more time, on songwriting, arrangement, mastering your instruments and playing together, and maybe in a year or so you might be ready to try a demo. This is just embarrassing.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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