Review: The Upwelling – Self-Titled

The Upwelling are the first unsigned band to get Virgin Megatore’s “Virgin Recommends” sticker stuck to their CD, and while it isn’t hard to see why Virgin would endorse them with a sound that lands right between Jimmy Eat World and next week’s British soft-pop contender I don’t know that I ‘m ready to crown them the king of anything just yet. The songs on this 5 track EP are nice, they sore, they have a little rock in them and they have a mood that sometimes crosses Catherine Wheel with Elbow or Coldplay, but there just isn’t the payoff. Without a doubt they deserve to be signed, but one would hope that the security of a label would allow them to loosen up and experiment a bit more.

This review originally appeared in Glitter Gutter Trash, May 2005, Issue 197.