Review: Scanner- Just A Hint Of Mayhem (EP)

Before I tell you about the awesome EP, I want to tell you how I first came to know this band called Scanner, a few years ago I was on a radio station called SME Fusion Radio, and while I was on that station I got sent new music from a band called Scanner, I also used to have a chat room people can come on during my show times, while I was playing Scanner, lead vocalist Joe Brady came into the chat room, since then he has been an avid listener of my show and I have been an avid fan of his band

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The rest I could say is history but there is still so much between that and still more to come since then Joe and I have become good friends and he helps me out with a few of the “behind the scenes” work I have 

So Joe is not only an all-round nice guy but he also happens to be very talented along with Junnie Fortney and Ray Hawkins who all played on this record

Starting with track one namely Roky Where Are You?, is a great way to start the EP, it has that familiar Scanner Sound we come to love and respect but it is also an in-your-face track from start to finish and gets you rocking already on track one. What I love about Scanner, is their great riffs and lead solo all of which are awesome and evident in this song. with short solos in between each verse and bridge/chorus. Roky, Where Are You, is also a very catchy number, and I feel if this song were to be played live, it would be a crowd pleaser, a song people can sing along to. 

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Off to a great start, I push play on track 2. namely Big Brother, I think Hey David Bowie has a track named that, I know Scanner are big fans of Bowie and have covered his work before, I wonder if this is a cover, I am right, they have decided to cover a track from David Bowie, the legend himself, big shoes to fill, but Scanner do it awesomely. There are two things I look for in a cover, that is did they pay respect to the original and not butcher it, and did they manage to make the song their own and bring a new flava to it, I can safely tick both boxes on the above. The band did brilliantly, now I am going to say big words and no disrespect to any Bowie fans out there but I do somewhat prefer Scanner’s version of the song. There I said it, but it’s true. A fun fact on the name of this EP ‘A Hint Of Mayhem’ is also a line from this very song.

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I go on to track 3, another original namely ‘Just Me And The Ghost’. I can see this is the influence of the Vocalist/bassist Joe Brady on this track, because if you know anything about Joe Brady, he is big into things like Monsters, out of this world kind of stuff, and with a title like that,  I can see where that come from. ‘Just Me and the Ghost’ is yet another hard-hitting track, starting off with all instruments on deck, once again it is a very catchy track, and as early as after the chorus there is a short lead solo played awesomely by Junnie Fortney, Ray Hawkins on drums is also sounding great particularly on this track, I am not sure if its because there is a break down of the song and the music starts again and the drums come in from there but I really like it, for a 3 piece band, this band does manage to sound amazing and very tight, which is evident in this song. 

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On to the 4th and final song of the EP and I am pleasantly surprised because it is another cover, namely Ring of Fire originally by Johnny Cash. A fun fact you might not have known the song was co-written by Cash’s future wife, June Carter, and songwriter/producer Merle Kilgore. One thing about the original is, that it has more of a country feel to it, so I wondered how Scanner, a punk band would make this classic sound. To my surprise, Scanner pulled it off, and yes they went a bit country with this, especially with the intro guitar work, but like I said earlier in the Bowie cover, the band managed to put their own rock punk spin on the single and really made the song their own, yet paying respect to the original.