The Early Strike is a four piece pop punk band hailing from Southern California – “Ten Outta Ten” is their sophomore record. The distinguishing feature separating The Early Strike from the countless other pop punk bands out there is that they have both a male and female singer (Ryan Shaw and Brit Joyce), often trading lines in the same song.
The band is young and as one would expect, their music is designed for the young. The performances are solid and consistent with the genre, and the 11 tunes are fast paced the whole way (clocking in just over 30 minutes). Producer David J. Holman (No Doubt, Bush) did a terrific job capturing the energy of the band. But to my ears, it is hard to tell one song from the next and, aside from the male-female duo vocals, the band really doesn’t do much musically or lyrically to stand out from the herd.
The Early Strike is probably going to strike out with most music fans, but they should resonate for newbies who haven’t heard or grown tired of the pop punk formula yet. Check them out if you like All Time Low, Something Corporate, or New Found Glory. If you’re interested, I’d like to point your attention to “Real Man Show” (video below) and “Reality Check”. “Ten Outta Ten” will be officially released February 15, 2011, but is available now on iTUNES.
The Early Strike on MySpace. Official site.
Check out a video for “Real Man Show”:
The Early Strike - Real Man Show
The Early Strike | Myspace Music Videos
