Las Vegas, Nevada’s Last Call makes a good impression with their passionately raw vocals and heavy guitar riffs. But still, it’s not enough to call their new EP, Stay On The Outside, anything other than average. Lyrically, the band lacks creativity. Their word choices also affect their melodies, which hurt most of their songs. From the first verse on opener “Long Distance,” be prepared to cringe when vocalist Austin Jeffers butchers melodies with awkwardly elongated words.

To make matters worse, the next track, “Keyholes,” is a filler song with so much unfulfilled potential. Once you get past the first verse, which suffers from the same lyric mishaps as the previous track, there’s a wonderful chorus: “And I’ll still sing // Into these walls. // Hoping that these lyrics have you looking through keyholes.” The second verse carries a better melody and powers through the song with intensity. But by the time the chorus comes in again, the song is over—it’s a tease. Things improve on “Old News.” The verses have stronger imagery while the guitars creatively riff off the vocals and one another. The chorus is sluggish in attempt to sound poppy, but it’ll do. The song is still one of the more solid tracks off the EP.

Their best and most melodic track, “It’s Like This Place Isn’t Even Real,” is filled with solid lead guitar and well thought-out harmony. The song starts with a dizzying guitar melody and sincere vocals just before jumping into full band sounds. It’s similar to The Wonder Years’s “Don’t Let Me Cave In,” but deeper and heavier. Those who download the iTunes version of the album will find a bonus acoustic track called “Slow Motion.” It’s nothing special, but the piano and arpeggios are a nice touch. With a musical intensity similar to The Blackout Pact, hopefully Last Call can improve on their full-length.

★★.5/★★★★★

*This review was composed by Jose Terrero