I've noted on numerous occasions that Plymouth (U.K.) has become a hot bed of musical activity in the past five years and once again a band has come forward to provide more evidence of my not so wild claim. Some might say that the members of As We Sink are not natives of the city but hell, they live here so let's not quibble over semantics!

I've managed to catch this trio live on a couple of occasions and they always seem to get my head nodding quite easily with their catchy punk rock, but to describe them as catchy might do them a bit of a disservice as they're not a straight up punk rock band. There is some depth to what they do and here on this four-track release they manage to convince me that they're not just one of those bands that seem to hit heights playing live, when I've had a couple of drinks, and then fail to live up to my expectations once they get into a studio.

Up first is the extremely energetic "Bitter Teeth," a song that features some great group vocals, as well as a quality sound. "Drifter" finds the band taking its foot off the pedal a bit but they don't lose any of the energy and passion, as they deliver another impressive song and one in which I find myself hearing similarities to Avalanche United both musically vocally, sounding a bit like Vinnie Caruana in the process.

"Aching Hands, Itchy Feet" has a real U.K. feel to it vocally, but the music has a foot on both sides of the Atlantic, and this is the track that would probably go down the best with those who make the pilgrimage to Gainesville on an annual basis. "Most Important Days" is the highlight of the four tracks and has a great feel to it, with another well done group vocal performance and a pace that is more varied than the other tracks.

As We Sink has got a bright future and far be it for me to overly praise the band but I reckon they're one of my favorite Plymouth-based bands at the moment and other than Crazy Arm and the Damerels, they are band I like to see live. That's no slight on any of the other bands in the area, just a case of me liking these guys quite a bit and this record really does end up showing off their abilities to the full.

Finally, it would be wrong of me to ignore the great artwork on the cover of this single, which was provided courtesy of Tom Lacey (Ghost of a Thousand).