Rating: 7/10

'Desert Monkey are a quartet hailing from Colchester and are from the nineties grunge, sludgy rock mould, even though they are all in their very early twenties.

Water Damage is their second EP and a five-track look into what they are about, which is quite a bit. They have more similarities to Candlebox and Stone Temple Pilots than to Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, although there are elements of the latter found here. While this may seem pointless as there might not be as large a market for this style of music in today’s industry as there was ten years ago, there are five songs here which are actually highly enjoyable.

With a taste of funk infused bluesy type style these guys produce a sound, which is very accomplished for their age. A proficient use of their instruments lifts them out of the bland category with vocals that are extremely strong and expressive defining the style perfectly.

Where Desert Monkey goes from here is a difficult to predict, however, they are off to a good start and have quite a bit in their favour, not least their young age.'

(Review by Stephen Holder of MetalUK www.metaluk.com)