CYCLEFLY Crawl Down (Radioactive)

"Crawl Down" is the debut EP from an Irish/French/Italian quintet who claim influences and comparisons ranging from Jane’s Addiction, Smashing Pumpkins, Tool, prime Bowie to Black Sabbath...so what are the chances of the end product sounding, well, a lot like Placebo? Quite high, actually, although a Placebo with big, sharp teeth and a Kerrang!-pleasing attitude to noise would be nearer the mark. (Their producer, Sylvia Massey, is apparently feted for her work with Tool, if that means anything to you). The main link is in the vocals - Declan O’Shea has the same Feargal Sharkey twang as Brian Molko. Sometimes they temper their fairly standard issue guitar noise with exotica like sitars - which would be a nice idea if said instrument weren’t all over the last Manics album like a manifesto. Not bad, but probably unneccessary if you’ve ever bought a Placebo album.