Gia Valentina. Debut Single - No More (Review)

Over the weekend I got sent a link to a demo from a band that I had never heard of. In this line of work there is frankly nothing unusual about that, but unlike half the demos that I hear there was something that caught my attention. I couldn’t put a finger on it but there was just something. That band whose demo I get linked to was Gia Valentina and here is my review of their debut single.

Gia Valentina are a 6 piece rock band from Coatbridge in Scotland. The band is made up of Steven Warnock on vocals, John McArthur and Ciaran Febers on guitar, Andrew Tracey on bass, drummer Anton Lafferty and Amy Louise Robertson on keyboards and backing vocals. They put together their first demo on January of 2013 and are currently signed to Cave Wall Records.

This is their debut single taken from their forthcoming debut album which is slated for release on 30^th May. There is also a video for the track, shot and directed by Paddy Gordon.

This is all well and good, but as always will count for absolutely nothing if the music is terrible. But you can put those fears to one side, this track delivers. If you’re a fan of melody driven rock (like me) then it is everything that you want it to be.

The intro is brilliantly bassy and brilliantly deep. At this point you could be forgiven for thinking it was about to launch into a dance tune. But just as you’re expecting a synth to come floating in you get hit with a brilliant riff instead, building the track up a little bit more.

The main part of the song kicks in now with an almost haunting vocal coming in before giving way to a more traditional rock sound. The track skips along nicely into a great guitar led break down before really going up a gear, or should I say down. All of a sudden everything gets a whole lot heavier, and the track winds to a close in a way very reminiscent to early Muse.

‘No More’ has a bit of everything. The musicianship is great, the vocal is brilliantly dexterous, and the progressions from bass intro, to melody driven rock, to the heavier section at the end are fantastic. As a lead single it is perfect, there is plenty of replay value, and will leave you wanting to hear the rest of the album.

The acid test for me is always ‘would I pay to buy this record?’ And the answer is a resounding yes. This is melodic rock but not quite as you know it.