The Towers

The Towers may be a bunch of sprightly youngsters (ranging in age from 19 to 22) but they are already spawning an EP collection, with "Pop By Numbers" bringing together some old and some new to launch their own label, Get Up Records.

And it's pop alright. At times you think it's not a million miles away from McFly then, thankfully, the music takes a turn away from the overly pop and reminds you of other more worthy comparisons. For instance, first track "Stop, Wake Up" has a sound and passion that Bloc Party would strive for and as an impact, it does extremely well. The sound owes a lot to American rock or their latest wave of soft-punk, nonetheless it's a well played song that bristles along. The vocals manage to add an air of urgency and pressure, resulting in an opener which encourages the listener to seek out more.

Followed by "One Blink for Yes, Two Blinks for No", which, while similar to its predecessor, carries on the momentum with a guitar line that menacingly buzzes in the background, at times picking out delicate lines, at others throbbing away.

"Town and Cities" is more downbeat but doesn't suffer for it, it manages to show another side to the band yet maintains the sense of spirit and fun. Without this type of track breaking up proceedings, the EP may have become a bit too samey but it just shows how a little addition can go a long way.

Regular readers of The Mag will be aware of "One Good Reason (To Dance)" and it's a good a way as any to finish off the little selection, turning out more US flavoured rock for kids to bounce about to for a while.

With a big future still ahead of them, the "Pop By Numbers" EP may have a title that damns themselves with faint praise but there's more than enough to be going on with for now from The Towers. Good show all round! - the-mag

The Towers may have called their new EP 'Pop By Numbers' but they've clearly taken a lot of time and care crafting their sound.

The EP kicks off in fine style with 'Stop. Wake Up.' and the liberal use of power chords signifies we're definately in pop-punk territory. Its all thoroughly likeable. Special mention has to go to the backing vocals in the chorus, which can only be described as 'unorthodox'. You'll have to listen for yourself to know what I mean but lets just say they're the kind of bizarre vocal idiosyncrasies that wouldn't sound out of place on a Pixies record.

'One Blink For Yes, Two Blinks For No' is another great pop song, but its 'Towns and Cities' that confirms there's more depth to The Towers than Fallout Boy. It's a fantastic track, similar to the breezy pop Feeder wrote in their early days. The vocal "I'll pick you up and fly you over towns and cities" would be perfect fodder for a mass sing-a-long at a festival.

The genre pop-punk is a broad church in terms of quality; at one end you've got travesties like Bowling for Soup and at the other you've got song-writing geniuses like Weezer. I'm happy to report that The Towers are a lot closer to the Weezer end of the scale. - Strathclyde University Telegraph

Yet another slice of power pop punk from one of Glasgow's youngest, tallest, funniest bands. The Towers manage to blend great pop sensibilities and hooks to brilliant and catchy guitar riffs.

Title track One Good Reason (to dance) does exactly that, with an intro that puts you in the mind of School of Rock. You're instantly swooped into a kind of Panic! at the Disco meets Jimmy Eat World, American sounding instant summer hit.

Perfect harmonies and a suprise disco beat really do give a reason to dance, albeit badly in my case! Most importantly, The Towers make you smile. Great tunes and a great attitude make them an easy band to love so make sure you get to Avalanche and get yourself a copy of this single. - By Night Magazine

With the same boundless puppy dog energy of Busted or Son of Dork, young Scots band The Towers will keep bouncing up and down until someone takes notice.

The four tracks on Cut and Keep follow 2004s single My New Fear and continue the group's blend of pop melodies and growling guitars. Joyride is a blistering rip of pop punk rock with some American grunge thrown in for good measure.

As I Fall and There's a Light show a band maturing and unafraid of stripping back their sonic noise to show a beating heart. Then final track Forget the Future pushes the pace back up into Son Of Dork territory.

Four well-crafted tunes keep The Towers towering over many of the bands in Scotland. They may not be the trendy art rockers the A&R men from England think are on every Scottish city corner, but if they are wanting a band that could make an impression on the charts, this is the first place I'd look. - Daily Record

Thankfully this is not the hyped, punk-fashion saddos who call themslves Towers of London.

No, this is Scotland's The Towers, a group that blends Smashing Pumpkins with Busted. Indeed new singer Jamie Sellers does have the Charlie Simpson way about him.

But The Towers aren't some manufactured bubblegum punk band. Their songs are peppered with raw guitars, soaring harmonies and the content is heavier and more influenced by rock and Seattle's Sub Pop label.

Their latest single, My New Fear, starts off like a slow, folksy stroll in the park and ends up like a rowdy drunk at a stag night.

Left Unanswered in many ways is an even better song. It has more of an immediate hook and is cleverly crafted with a mix of slow/fast soft/loud keeping it interesting right to the end.

Their final song, Home, is a soft ballad for thos chill-out moments round the campfire at T in the Park.

This five-piece write memorable tunes and will probably rock live too. - Daily Record