The Seventeenth Century – The Seventeenth Century (Part 1) EP

The first in a series of two introductory EPs, The Seventeenth Century are a band of young folkies with a taste for the grandiose. Mixing 4-part vocal harmonies, multi-layered violin and cornet with the more conventional rock set-up of guitars, bass and drums, the band has made a fair impression in central Scotland since their inception in late 2009. Sadly for all the talent and efforts, violin-toting frontman Mark Brendan Farmer’s warbled vocal delivery hits like a shot of valium, and the band, despite flashes of great potential on Young Francis and Countryside, seem too busy striving to turn half-baked songs into full blown tug the heartstring anthems to the point where Roses in the Park goes right off the twee-o-meter. Bombast without gravitas.