Hailing from Brisbane, Columbus, are three of the saddest musicians in the Australian punk scene. After catching up with Alex Moses, singer of the band, I’ve been forced to follow Crtive. protocol and write a review of the band’s recent EP, Home Remedy.
Here we go, I’ve just pressed play on the EP and I’ve got a box of tissues ready. What are they for, you ask? Well, I’m not even sure yet. Possibly to mop up my tears, possibly for something else.
Opening track, Downsides Of Being Honest, immediately grabs my attention without having even listened to more than the first few seconds. This song has the benefit of featuring John Floreani of Trophy Eyes but if I’m honest, I was eagerly waiting for his part to play to the point where I wasn’t even listening to the first minute and a half.
Upon further inspection, yep, this song is an absolute banger from start to finish. Depicting a story of heartbreak, lack of sleep and longing for someone you can’t have, something I’m sure all people can relate with to some extent.
If you haven’t listened to the band before, this EP starts with a perfect representation of what to expect from them.
Toss & Turn, the second song of this four track EP, starts off with a much slower pace and cleaner, softer vocals from Alex. This song resembles something of the likes of Modern Baseball with a more radio vibe, but by no means something you would hear on a mainstream station.
This band has catchy hooks, clean drumming from Daniel Seymour and bass lines that play over in your head for hours after listening.
The end of this song is what really grabs me, the slow break down of everything that sucks you in (no, not 0 0 0 1 0 break down) then the pace is picked back up and you’re taken on a ride for another 20 seconds before the song comes to a close.
Now I’m on to the third track of the Home Remedy EP, Hospital. This song starts off with catchy guitar which suddenly fades away before vocals take over and we continue to learn about the same girl we have been for the past 2 songs, not that this is a bad thing. Generally I’d be one of the first to criticise a band for repetitive song meaning but the way Columbus write their music & lyrics and keep things at a fresh, rapid pace is what makes each song so different, regardless of the similarities.
“You could have opened your eyes and saw what you were doing, but you opened your mouth for the bottle and your legs just to spite me. I could have sworn you never liked me.” Who hurt you, Alex? Who hurt you? Lyrics like this are what make this band so appealing to myself, and so many others. I guess we just want to know other people are hurting more than we all are.
Unfortunately I just pressed play on the final track of the EP. They finish the EP with the title track, Home Remedy. This is probably my favourite song of the whole EP, with a similar start to Toss & Turn, we listen to some nice and slow with soft cleans from Alex… But then in comes Ben Paynter with the bass line that thumps you right in the fucking chest. This, accompanied by deep lyrics and aggressive singing from Alex, this is what I love about Columbus.
This song ends the EP on a note which makes you want to play the entire thing over again. It leaves you happy, it leaves you sad, it leaves you wondering exactly what the writer of these lyrics went through.
The final seconds of the song give us the idea that the singer of Columbus, Alex Moses, has come to terms with the person he is and I think a suitable lyric to sum up what he’s feeling is, in the words of Keaton Henson, “I’m truly alone and I like it”.
TL;DR, this band fucking RULES and so does this entire EP. Go buy the EP, buy the band’s merch, buy tickets to their tour with Real Friends (USA) next month and check them out live.