This is a strong indie guitar album, with plenty of melody and some quite superb sounds, mingled a little with workmanlike “middle-aged men play indie” sounds.
They should be good: Andy Rourke, late and lamented bassist of The Smiths, was member, alongside frontman and guitarist Kav Sandhu of the Happy Mondays. The sound is somewhere between Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and the Beatles.
Opener “Disconnected” is great, and as it unfolded I thought this was going to be a world class indie album. Lots of energy, good riffs, emotive sound. Which is why it comes first.
“Stay Strong Forever”, featuring one Johnny Marr, is next, a decent song that’ll be the arms-in-the-air singalong live. “Hole in my Heart” is also pleasant, a lightweight indie pop tune; by now it’s clear that the high bar set by the opener is not going to be met, however.
“Big Nose” is one of the more BRMC tune but a lot of sweating for not much; muscular guitar, grunting harmonies in the verse but a catchy Beatles-ish chorus. (Closer “Pass the Gun” is similarly a lot of noise but little heat) and “High Gravity” is muscular acoustic number. It’s possible they know it’s not the best as “Lost Myself” cranks the quality back up, with a catchy chorus (almost like ELO) and a nice lead break.
“Lost and Found” starts off with a slick drum beat (Craig Eriksson, professional drummer and teacher who plays in high-end function bands by the look of it) and some electronic boops, then turns into another BRMC drone (which is good) with a fine guitar solo.
Still, few albums are perfect if you want a blokey indie album it’s more than decent, and a good tribute to Andy Rourke, who clearly took a splitter van to the great gig in the sky firing on all cylinders.
JMC
