Red Print – The Plan
Release Date: 13th October 2023
When you break it down to its basics, creating rock and/or roll is a pretty simple process complicated by the human need to progress. As a species we’re generally never happy unless improvements are being made or something new is being developed. Sometimes though it’s nice to just sit back and revel in what we already have. Enter Red Print. From Bergen op zoom, a city in the southwest of the Netherlands, released their debut EP in October with five tracks that have been honed and refined but still retain that core rock ‘n’ roll spirit.
The opening track, and first chance to experience what Red Print have to offer, sees ‘Stop Running’ bring out the chugging guitars which lay the groundwork for a fairly laid back rock album on which the band have cultivated a sound that both captures the style of decades of pure rock whilst sounding fresh. What ‘Stop Running’ does well is bring back a good old solo as the last minute or so of the song sees the band’s guitarist allowed to express himself in full shredding glory. A decision that many bands feel they cannot make anymore.
‘Telephone’ follows and while here the vocals do seem to struggle a little as they reach the edge of their range, the track does continue where ‘Stop Running’ left us. It’s a vocal driven track in the ilk of some of the ‘pop-ier’ 80s rock tracks and has the atmosphere of old battle of the bands from the mid-noughties. It’s rough around the edges and expressive. At six and a half minutes it is pushing towards being slightly too long but again the musicianship keeps everything moving and away from any staleness before ‘Herd’ follows and ups the energy levels once more and providing the catchiest riff across all five tracks.
‘Colour Me Insane’ and ‘Immersion’ see the record out in varying styles. Whilst both stick within that ‘classic’ area that Red Print have buried themselves in, the difference between a four minute and an eight minute song is huge. Whilst both contain the Stevie Nicks style vocals that have made themselves at home on the record, on ‘Colour Me Insane’ some are punkier which adds a new dimension to the song alongside some more psychedelic guitars and a chunk more fuzz. Closing out with ‘Immersion’ has the band heading back to the cleaner singing as more progressive guitars lay the ground for them. Beautiful instrumental sections highlight the serious amount of talent in the band and in a little under half an hour the EP is completed.
The Plan sees a band that used to just focus on covers come of age with their original music, taking bucket loads of inspiration from their heroes and putting their own spin on it. This is a fun record that showcases a band that are taking their first strides and doing it in some style.