This is a review of "Make It Up" recorded by Seven Hours. The review was written by Gavin Miller in 2004.

Sounding like coffee table jazz funk, but with a rougher Tom Waits on vocals, Seven Hours are a bit of a mixed bunch. Funky guitars and flea-esque bass matched to cigarette-burned vocal chords and bouncy drums are what Seven Hours do best, and it’s all here on this 5 track EP.

‘So No Smokin’ is a by-the-numbers funk exercise, but not an altogether unenjoyable one. Its sharp guitar sound and its steady, up-tempo drumming sound pretty good, but it’s nothing super double special. Still, for a local band, it’s been recorded and mixed well.

The fuzzy rock jam of ‘Feel My Boot’ is a bit better, with that crunchy, dirty guitar sound lathered all over. Dave Holmes’ vocals are sounding rougher than ever, but for blues/ rock/ funk/ jazz or whatever the hell genre they’re in, they match it perfectly.

‘More Than A Friend’ is a change of pace. Unfortunately, it didn’t need a change of pace, so this track is a bit out of place. It sounds like the Red Hot Chili Peppers messing around when they were 15 or something. It’s too jolly. The chorus is pretty cool though, but it’s a B-side at best to be honest. At least they fuzz it up a bit at the end, but by then it’s become far too irritating.

‘Quick Highs’, with its slide guitar and understated vocals is back on track. Sounding more like The White Stripes if they met up with BB King and had Jack White on valium. Yeah, it’s OK, but there’s something missing. You don’t know what, but there seems to be a little something missing.

Last track ‘Dead Man’ starts like a lost demo by The Coral, with its jangly guitar and its bright and breezy drums. In fact, it carries on that way for the whole song. It’s pretty good too, a good note to leave on.

Seven Hours aren’t that complex, don’t make eclectic records or have deep meanings in their songs. But that’s what makes them kind of compelling. Although trapped in a limited genre, they somehow manage to make the sound of blues and rock a bit more refreshing than other “blues” bands around at the moment. However, after a while, the constant tricks and licks, the snarls and growls, and the smashes and crashes seem to fall a little flat. There’s only so many things you can do with blues music, and Seven Hours can do them all. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing, I’ll let you decide.