I’ve been waiting to hear and review this EP for close to 3 months now, but it was only last night that Cale (vocalist/guitarist/slide) for the Bridges dropped this into my hand and said, ‘here you go, mate, have a listen’.

For anyone that has seen them live at least once before, you would know that these guys put so much energy into their performance, whether it be to 10 people (unlikely these days) to a couple of hundred. They are a type of live band that are very capable of playing 3 one hour sets in a night.

Prior to listening to the CD, I had very high expectations of a sound that would whisk me off to one of their gigs and I can see the guys bouncing off each other in a flurry of tie-dye and sweat, and it’s not to say that I’m disappointed in the CD, but it never quite captures the essence of their high-energy live sets.

I know I’m being picky here, but to be honest, the CD is a little too polished. Don’t let that put you off though, as the songs are still brilliant, but it kind of leaves you wanting a bit more grittiness in the recording.

Starting with Colours of the World, the songs kicks straight into Adro’s deep didj, and the slow-burning groove moves straight on in. Admittedly, my head was bopping while listening to this track and typing this review.

The EP moves up in pace with the next track, Bluestown. This track always gets crowds moving, and there’s still some of that energy in this version, but for some reason while listening to this, I start to think of some type of TV show on the ABC that experiences life in the outback. The oooh ooooh harmonies are pretty damn slick though.

Third track Home, has a slight country touch to it with that guitar riff, but they always seem to bring back to the typical Bridges feel-good sound. One thing I’ve noticed though (in all the tracks) is that the kick drum isn’t as present as it should be, and the hi-hats are a little too loud. Nitpicking, I know, but that is nothing against drummer Reese at all, more on the production side of things.

Jazztune is a nice, kick-back with a beer or glass of red on the back patio type of song.

One thing I am stoked with is that they managed to finish the EP off with the fantastic Can We, Shall We. This song has such a very cool build up to it, and is a great example of the song-writing skills these guys display. Watch this song live for the Djembe/Congo/Drum breakdown. The addition of what sounds like some blues fiddles in the background is a nice surprise too.

The messages in these songs are of good times, love and peace, which basically epitomises The Floating Bridges, and despite the fact that it lacks the punch of the live performances (though I have on good knowledge that the follow –up EP will be recorded in live takes, and be less-polished) it’s still very worthy picking up this CD from one of their many live shows.

Rooster.