Dundee band who were on the radar, fell off, and have now surprised everyone by not only coming back but, out of the blue, releasing a debut album. There are 9 tracks, 8 of them songs if you exclude the opening and beautifully delicate 58 second instrumental that kicks things off.
The song portion of the album starts with the 4+ minute “Aftermath” and immediately you're ushered into a world where guitars are riffs and riffs are jangly, only then for the jangly to become a roar and then veer between the two as a driving rhythm ensues to provide the foundations on which the vocals positively fly, well accented and with a somehow mesmerising approach as two singers trade leads and join in on harmonies as the track has a feel to it that you simply don't get from anyone else. The track rushes ahead on a tidal wave of verses and kind-of hooks, but the instrumentation from what I presume to be two guitarists and rhythm section, is just huge and expansive but filled with real passion and electricity, the band taking off like a rocket only to fall back down just a bit, then take off even higher, the guitars like solar flares, the rhythms pounding away neatly, the melodies an absolute joy to behold and the vocals so full of texture and strength – a great opening song. For the 2 and a half minute “Vegas”, they accelerate things and provide an initally lurching sea of rhythms over stop-start guitar riffs, as the singer lets rip with a flying vocal that's Scottish indie through and through. The track bounces through the verses to intricate and melodic backing then flies upwards to the roar of the chorus, only on the second – or is it third – verse – to stay on earth for a short break of guitar-led delicacy, only then to start the surge of hook-ridden roar fly upwards towards the abrupt finale.
At a shade under 5 minutes, “Idle Romance” is altogether starker with more bite initially as the guitars take a back seat to the beefy rhythms, the singer out front and alone giving the lyrically story-telling verses a real sense of bite and strength. Then this whirlwind of guitar riffing takes off as the rhythm section play it straight, only for the guitars to drop back down to the serene yet solid flow that backs the verses, as the two alternate in wondrously breathtaking dynamic fashion, the song lurching along to perfection, hammering to a riffing, rhythmic end as the vocals are positively spat out at a kind of slow-mid paced fashion, ending on a (guitar) note of great delicacy.
“Metrics” is, at just over 5 minutes, opens with a kind of lengthy, flowing guitar-laden intro that the likes of Television would have been happy to use had they been a Scottish indie band as the rhythms are beefy, the guitars scythe to and fro and eventually that heavily accented vocal cuts in with a song that lurches forward with an almost lazy, “couldn't give a toss” feel to it, again spitting out the vocals with authority, the lyrics, as always, well worth listening out for, as the whole combination drives forward surrounded by that wondrously heady, swirling, cyclical guitar riff, alternating between the verses and the riffing, occasionally taking a more serene path, but overtly solid at the centre and a surging sea of rawness in the vocals and spirited heat in the guitars, propelled by the strength of the rhythm section. “Heatwaves” starts as jangly guitar-led ballad, the vocals stark and raw, quite effective, although the harmony vocal is a tad out, but the guitar sound, as throughout the album, is just sublime. The hook of the song is more intoned than sung and almost gets out of tune, but luckily stays on the right side, saved by that wondrous sea of guitar notes and chords that sweeps your head and heart away. The song strengthens as the harmonies deteriorate and the final surge of multi-part vocals is getting seriously close to falling off the cliff, but rescues it from going that far. A track that, as I've found, once you get used to it and in the context of the album as a whole, eventually finds a place in your head alongside the stuff you've loved so far.
“For Something” is a shade under two minutes of chiming guitars, deep bass, wordless harmonies (that work a treat) and trade-off dual lead vocals, like a Scottish indie peal of church bells set to song. “Standby” returns to the feel and style of the second track, only this time with more of a cascade of a chorus and superheated guitar riffs over rolling drumming, pounding bass and ever intensifying songs and arrangement where the vocals soar into the chorus and the guitars are expansive and varied. Finally, there the 6 and a half minute “You're Not Safe” and here we encompass most of what the album tracks have been all about to date, in one superb final song, one that gives the guitars a chance to ring and shine, shows off the band's arranging skills and dynamics to perfection, features flowing lead vocals and high-flying harmonies, opens as an almost funereal-paced ballad then takes off to the skies in glorious fashion with heady riffs, explosive rhythms, soaring leads, driving beats, clipped lead vocals repeating the title of the piece as it all shudders, glides, rings out, riffs away, climbs, intensifies, pours every ounce of passion from its depths and provides us with a song that rolls round and round in memorable fashion.
All in all, a seriously strong, individual, alternately strong, driving, heady, charming, impassioned and always melodic gem of a truly mesmerising album that could only be produced by a Scottish indie band that, for a debut album, delivers the goods but proves there's a lot more to develop.