The Riff Raff are a young sextet hailing from (mostly) London, England and have just released their debut ep Changes Everything.

It opens with its namesake, ‘Changes Everything’, a jangly guitar intro slowly jumps into something slightly distorted with an aggression; but when mis-matched with the big Kele Okereke-esque vocals, it feels slightly hollow. Though the vocals and fuzzy keyboard melodies do give the track a Bloc Party vibe, it leaves the track with a nothingness about it, just another song.

Track number two ‘NYC LOVES LDN’ is fun, upbeat pop song, great for a sing-a-long, but has a little too much of a Wombats appeal, a reoccurring feeling through the whole six tracks. ‘Fins in the Dark’ brings back a little of the aggression evident early on in the ep, which a great chorus to shout along too and a beat that can move you on the dance floor, an attempted drunken teenage anthem.

This little release is good, fun but has barely any original qualities to it to keep your attention. The songs all sound the same, not only within the six songs by the band themselves, but like many other British pop bands out currently out there, like the Wombats mentioned before or Mystery Jets. Songs about romance, running away, drinking and escaping; all the exciting stuff that everyone already sings about. I can see the songs feeling much more exiting live than how they come on this release, but it lacks any passion, any conviction.