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Offlimit - No One Knows You Like I Do

Reviewed by Pete | 18/06/2004 - 12:00AM

Never judge a book by its cover is the first thing I have to say. On first hearing about Offlimit, the 3 14 year old boys with influences of Placebo, Muse and RHCP I was a bit nervous giving my views on them. I must confess that the description would throw anyone and most peoples reactions were 'another teenybopper band who want to follow in the footsteps of their idles'. But on hearing their debut cd, 'No One Knows You Like I Do' I was somewhat surprised. If someone handed you this cd with no other information you wouldn't be crazy for thinking they were a band twice their age.

Vocalist Dale at some points sounds like a young Kurt Cobain, with a rough raw edge to his singing which projects the songs in a somewhat more interesting way. For a 14 year old you certainly wouldn't expect his voice to sound like it does and I think that’s why it works so well. Much of the guitar, bass and drums all works well enough with a nice riff popping up here and there, although some songs lack the interest they need to excel like other local bands have.

Offlimit say that their best songs are 'Don't Push' and 'No One Knows', which I agree with, although I would add 'I' in there as well. Excluding the intro track (which is just instrumental) the other track 'Sever Me' seems to lack something special and in my opinion is very monotonous. However the 3 best tracks do require praise. So far I’ve only really discussed the bad points about Offlimit and that’s only half the story. The other half is a very talented band who could get a long way if they keep progressing with their age.

Excluding 'Sever Me' Offlimit produce a very unique blend of rock and I would even go as far to say part grunge. For a band that doesn't list Nirvana as a major influence is quite ironic, as their sound in my opinion resembles a younger version of the grunge legends. Whether or not that’s because of the vocals and the general sleepy (but good) atmosphere of the music I don't know, but Nirvana certainly came into my mind on first hearing them. Offlimit's best songs are constant, head nodding rock tracks, ones which you can imagine would be great live.

In a years time I hope I receive a second cd from the boys. It will be very interesting to see how they're progressing and what their new sound is heading towards. I’m only giving this cd 5/10 because in my opinion it's a work in progress. The talents there and mark my words it's only a matter of time (given commitment and progression) before this band get much, much better.

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