Band: Artist Vs. Poet
Album: Artist Vs. Poet EP
Genre:  Pop Rock
Label: Fearless

Tracks:
1. Run Away
2. Assurance Closure
3. Lisa Marie
4. Infallible Remedy
5. All In

It seems like every label is getting out Myspace sensations this year. We had I Set My Friends on Fire from Epitaph and now we get Artist Vs. Poet, a pop rock/acoustic act, whose daily play count could literally blow your mind. Fearless, a label known for scene stealing acts swept this group up not too long ago and we finally have the first new material from the act out this week with results that don’t always live up to the hype, but give quite a bit of effort.

The album should come with a notice that this band doesn’t exactly have a focused sound quite yet. This has been appearing more and more with new acts who cling to the acoustic world. but want to grow. It’s natural, but can be a bit bothersome as far as flow of a record is concerned. With that said, “Run Away,” has the addiction level of cocaine from the get go. It’s a perfect album starter with solid vocals and great electric/acoustic guitar mix. I won’t lie, things here seem very run of the mill scene wise, but it’s addicting so you know there must be something special. The next taste of something so catchy really comes in with, “Lisa Marie,” which almost feels like a more laid back Taking Back Sunday type song and will surely make some knees weak.

The only problem with a strong start of course is following up and the group seems to stumble a bit with, “Assurance Closure,” which, as I predicted, found the band battling there sounds, or at least it seems so. Much like Myspace sensation predecessors The Scene Aesthetic, A vs. P seems to be stuck deciding whether to go all out electric or stick to the root sound that built there fan base. As a result, a song with solid writing fumbles and the album goes down a notch. This isn’t the only stumbling point though as, “Infallible Remedy,” the groups most electric track, is very solid, but doesn’t flow with everything and trips up the record. I would like to mention once again however, that the track is beautiful, it just doesn’t seem to belong among these songs. Luckily, “All In,” the closer, seals the album on a heartfelt note of teen love and dreams. Everything is stripped down, but still enthralling and embracing. This is the bread winner of the album and should be the first you check out for sure.

I will admit, in all honesty, I didn’t expect too much from this release as many of these Myspace deals have fallen through, but Artist Vs. Poet is a refreshing surprise of feel good sounds and heartfelt chords. Each song, even when there are flaws, has a subtle lining of great music making in development. Rarely has an EP made me so anxious to see what a band would come out with next as this one. Until that times however, we will have 5 solid tracks to get us through the day and give us hope for the future.
 

 *Written By: James Shotwell*
Grade: 7.5/10

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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