Through their latest track ‘Big Talk’, Denver quintet Redlands have offered up a gorgeous slice of American pop rock on their most recent EP Adventurer. Formed from various local Colorado bands in early 2014, The Vans Warped Tour hopefuls – namely Ben Lohle, Chase Martinez, Zach White, Brandon Ruckman and Taylor Macres – play “honest heartfelt summer jams”, with a polished 00s sound not unlike Matchbox Twenty. ‘Big Talk’’s addictive acoustics are romantically upbeat yet convey a tinge of bitterness at the “queen of all the wrong things” and her “empty promises”.
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The track’s glorious hook displays heaps of chart-bothering potential perhaps on both sides of the Atlantic, and Redlands’ indie ethos has a tendency to metamorphose revealing honest, fiery pop punk undertones which mightn’t sound out of place on Kerrang! (without singing about skateboards and getting dumped, of course). Through lead singer Lohle’s stirring vocal delivery with all the passion of Bastille’s conquering choruses, you can’t help feeling that Redlands might just be one of the most promising upcoming bands of 2015. Words by Kristen Sinclair