Single review: Serotonin – Siempre y para Siempre

This particular Serotonin (as there appear to be a number of bands of the same name)are an Oxfordshire three-piece with a penchant for publicity photos taken in decaying and overgrown corrugated iron out-buildings. Siempre y para Siempre translates roughly from the Spanish to “forever and ever”, and although none of the three tunes here have that for a title, the combination of visuals and title have probably given you a good idea of their style already – simple alt-rock three-piece stuff, moody and glowering.

The songs feature a kinda gruff post-grunge vocal style, that full-throated Man Voice that marks out bands like Seether and Creed. There’s an element of the feigned sincerity of those bands, too, but vocalist Jay (no surname supplied) sounds just a little more convincing and authentic, which may be due to his commendable avoidance of a fake American accent. Beyond the voice, though, there’s nothing astonishingly out-of-the-ordinary here – nothing that you’ve not heard in the more successful guitar albums of the nineties. The playing is solid all round, but undistinguished; and while unembellished competence is a pleasant change from virtuosity-for-virtuosity’s-own-sake, the modern rock market is so saturated that a band needs to do something unique and distinctive if they want to make a mark. Either that, or they need to write outstanding songs.

Serotonin aren’t quite there yet, sadly, though I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of them making the grade after a few more years – they’ve got a knack for understatement that suits their chosen style, and a good grasp of the structural language of the slow-burn grunge tune. What they need is a unique selling point, a sound or approach or message that can make them stand out from the herd… and I sincerely hope that they find it.