First Listen: No Devotion

Calling all Lostprophets fans…

It’s been a pretty heart breaking time for Lostprophets fans.

Lostprophets were one of the defining bands of my teenage years and their music got me through some pretty tough times. So, like many of their fans, hearing about their frontman Ian Watkins was an earth shattering moment in time. Within the space of months, one of the most influential bands of my youth had died.

But, have they been resurrected?

Today the news hit that No Devotion had been formed of Lostprophets former band mates Lee Gaze,  Jamie Oliver, Stuart Richardson, Luke Johnson and Mike Lewis and brand new former Thursdsay singer Geoff Rickly.

They are performing 4 UK dates at the end of the month and are releasing new material “Stay” and “Eyeshadow” that are currently available on iTunes.

I gave “Stay” a listen on YouTube here:

Now, I know I’ve just gone on about the Lostprophets heritage but with No Devotion we really need to forget it. They are an entirely new band. This is both good and necessary I would say, considering the tarnished image of the former band. So what do I think of No Devotion after listening to Stay?

Well it’s slick and well put together. I feel that the sound is very much what you come to expect of indie / pop rock bands of the past five years. The sound that reminisces to the old days of Joy Division / New Order, of Depeche Mode but must live in the clean cut commercial world of today. It has potential to grow and mature into something riskier and stronger but at the moment Stay feels very safe and pop oriented. I found myself thinking of when Angels and Airwaves released “Everythings Magic”. It wasn’t Blink 182 but that’s right because the band was Angels and Airwaves. You don’t have to like it yourself but for what it was, it was a good light hearted song.

This is very much how I feel about Stay. It’s fun, it’s what you’d expect from Pop/Rock today and it’s well produced. I prefer something heavier or more daring personally but for what it is, it’s pretty good. I hope this band manages to be appreciated in their own right so that they may get comfortable and start to push boundaries a bit more. I don’t blame them for taking a pop route- they needed to distinguish themselves from their pasts- but I hope it’s not going to be a rut they get stuck into.

Personally, I can’t wait to hear more of their stuff and I really hope to see them at one of their live gigs and get a proper feel for what they’re like. They could be amazing so come on world, let’s give them a chance!