This new EP from The Treatment was originally recorded and released for Record store day, and was only available in very limited quantities (only 300 copies were produced and all were signed by the band) from a proper record shop, not online. Thankfully though for those of us who missed out, Spinefarm are making the EP widely available from 16th May.
Before getting to the music, lets start with the packaging. There’s a nice Star Wars style cover, and inside it doesnt just tell you what the songs are that are on the EP, it tells you why they chose to do each of the songs (all are cover versions). That for me was a really nice touch – there are thousands of great songs out there, so to get some insight into why a band has chosen a particular song to cover is unusual and interesting.
The five songs are…
Motor Bikin’ – originally by Chris Spedding
Let’s work together – originally by Canned Heat
Evil Woman – originally by ELO (Electric light orchestra)
Run run run – originally by Jo Jo Gunne
Take me back ’ome – Originally by Slade
All five songs are from the seventies which in itself is a surprise given that none of the band was actually born till after the seventies ended, but in another way it’s not a surprise as there was some great rock music in the seventies. With this EP the band have chosen an interesting mix of songs – a couple of them (Evil Woman & Let’s work together) being well known songs, but the others are obscure or less well known.
I won’t go through each track in detail – I’ll leave you to listen to the EP and make your own minds up, but some comments on two of the tracks..
”Let’s work together” is a classic song from Canned Heat, so tackling such a well known and loved song is always a risky proposition as any new version will be compared critically with the original, and if it’s not up to scratch then bands face a real critical mauling. Happily The Treatment have really done the song justice and produced a great version here.
”Evil Woman” is a surprise choice – ELO have a very different sound/style to The Treatment, so it’s definitely not an obvious choice of band or song to cover (whereas the others are more guitar led and are a more natural fit). The band have done a really good job of this cover, although I’m not 100% convinced by the vocals on it – I don’t think Matt Jones’s voice is quite right for the song, but he still does a hood job with it.
I can see ”Motor bikin” and ”Let’s work together” both going down well in the band’s live sets – I’d certainly love to hear them playing these songs live.
A great EP that is definitely worth buying.
”Then & Again” will be available from 16th May via Spinefarm records.
Track listing:
1. Motor Bikin’
2. Let’s work together
3. Evil woman
4. Run run run
5. Take me back ’ome
