MONA LISA

This Is War! are the five piece Liverpool based band consisting of Paul Carden on vocals, Mike Mullard on Guitar and backing vocals, Jonny Roberts on guitar (Mike and Jonny swap between playing Lead and Rhythm on different tracks), Andy Williams on Bass and Martyn Leah on Drums. 

Being seasoned musicians from other high profile bands such as The Black Velvets and Hurricane #1, This Is War! were formed in late 2021 and the band wasted no time in establishing themselves as one of the most hotly tipped bands in the UK right now. With an impressive 15k monthly followers on Spotify alone. This Is War! Have built up a solid and loyal fan base organically and predominantly through word of mouth and via their outstanding live performances, and through some pretty high profile fans like the football pundit Jamie Carragher, who has championed and promoted the band via his own social media channels.

Recently after being spotted and signed by the ever expanding Bubblebrain Records in Jersey, This Is War! are now gearing up for the release of their first EP. One of the tracks on the EP, I wish to give special mention to is ‘Mona Lisa’.

This is an acoustic version of a track that This Is War! released almost a year ago to the day. And I absolutely love it!

This is a stripped back acoustic version, almost to the point of folk, the progression in the intro is a stroke of genius, but what struck me was the intro of a cello playing in the second verse with the guitar playing that some way intro/verse progression- it’s replacing a bass in that low register and oh my God, yeah… this song is really tugging on the heartstrings. I love that impassioned vocal in the chorus.

But we are not done yet, there’s a wicked guitar solo at 2:49 that really shows these guys can pull off ballsy punk rock songs but strip it back too. 

At 4:02 when everything has built up to its inevitable conclusion the guitar riff from the intro comes back again to close it out. 

Blooming brilliant. 

This is easily my favourite song from the ‘Rotten’ EP, as it shows a totally different side to the band proving that they have a magnificent musical range and diversity.

Listen to ‘Mona Lisa’ here now

Review by Del Osei-Owusu