After the brilliant ‘Unfinished Business EP’ the hype surrounding this debut couldn’t have been much higher for this London three-piece. A brilliant single in the shape of ‘Death’ provided the band with further exposure, the release coupled off with a brilliant b-side and sprinkled with two uber-cool remixes courtesy of Haunts and Crystal Castles gave this band the ‘hotly tipped’ title for ‘09. Their debut effort ‘To Lose My Life’ is a fulfillment of potential and overall a quality piece of musical composition.
Their haunting vocals and mellow rhythm would tire quickly for another band, but just when you think that the sound is tiring in come the drums or bass and transform the drone in to a post-punk raving outburst of sound, turning the record in to disco night on The X Factor. I would rather fittingly describe it as Glasvegas on LSD, their themes aren’t of broken Britain but of broken hearts and the such.
Tracks such as ‘E.S.T.’ and ‘Unfinished Business’ are the best displays of their capabilities and song writing strengths. Though not on the album, ‘You Still Love Him’ is in my personal opinion one of their finest tracks, displaying their varying tempos and musical development perhaps better than any other.
The band have also geared up quite the reputation as alive band, playing at festivals from the underage to airwaves in Iceland. Despite just releasing their debut the band have already toured the US twice with a good reception, watch out for their UK and Europe tour through this month and the next.
Overall whilst it might be met with a mixed reaction, the record is a solid tribute to the bands reputation built up prior to release. It’s highly reccomended and is unlikely to dissapoint, it would be criminal not to give it a listen..
January 31st, 2009 at 3:57 am
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