Despite their stateside sounding name Lonely Dakota are a British quartet who formed at the tail end of 2015. With a few lineup changes and singles in between, including 2018s ‘Dead Stories’, this year saw the release of their debut EP End of Days (Self-Released) – serving up the kind of Post-Grunge that Shinedown and Seether built a career on. The plaintive melody and general melancholic aura of opening track ‘Victoria’ sets the tone for this five-track offering, emotive Hard Rock with radio-friendly sensibilities and a nagging sense of deja vu.

‘Medication’ is a good case in point, a crunchy Foo Fighters style rocker that is easy on the ear but has been done countless times. To quote singer Luke Varnell’s opening line “It all just seems familiar, and I think we’ve been here before”. The most promising moment here is the title track; a slice of controlled aggression with metallic guitars and a hooky chorus that is over in under three-and-a-half minutes. After this, though is more of the same pleasant enough but indistinct Hard Rock that does not live long in the memory; the chug along ‘Overdrive’ and the pounding drums, furious power chords and wailing solos of the final track ’15 Years’.

Lonely Dakota’s debut End of Days offers the kind radio-friendly Post-Grunge you heard many times before, the kind that is hard to dislike, but difficult to remember.

5 / 10

THOMAS THROWER