Review Summary: First is a welcome back to James and especially Adam following the breakup of Colour and I hope to see more of them soon.
Tangled Hair is made up of two former members of Colour, a band I did a review for the other week. Colour were one of my favourite bands, and their breakup was a real shame for me, so when I found out about Tangled Hair I was pretty excited to give First a listen. For those who don’t know Colour, they were a highly original combination of indie pop and math rock. The same is true for Tangled Hair just the math rock dial is turned down a bit in favour of more of a simple approach, which is understandable when you only have two members compared to the normal four. Alan Welsh takes up the role of all the instruments in the band, other than the drums which are handled by James Trood.
The short four track album starts of with Just Like That which sounds like a slow version of a normal Colour song, opening with Adams charming vocals, and clean guitars before James lays down a brilliant beat with Adam singing over “It’s like you never left, It’s like you never went away” which perfectly describes my feelings towards First especially as the song progresses into classic Colour, with catchy polyrhythmic guitar riffs and even catchier choruses throughout the rest of the song. Cardboard Hills starts with delicate keyboard playing and calming drums, again with Adams voice and charming vocals and lyrics over the top. The track repeats for about two minutes with the drums getting bigger each time before calming down again with those polyrhythmic guitars again before the drums get even bigger than before it ends with a keyboard and guitar solo. Emergency doesn’t really have a place being just under a minute long with just, and just feels like filler which is odd seeing as there is so little on the release. Trains Are Broken is the same as the first two tracks with catchy drums, riffs and vocals throughout.
Well that is it. I wish there was more to write about but there is only so much you can write about four songs. First is a welcome back to James and especially Adam following the breakup of Colour and I hope to see more of them soon.
