Review Summary: A British band with a California feel.
I first heard this band when I worked at the local grocery store. When you listen to the same recycled pop soundtrack everyday you tend to notice when something new shows up; one day “Things Will Change” came on and it blew me away. I looked em up, bought their LP, and was pleasantly surprised by the quality from such an unknown band.
This is a summer listening album. Basically every song on here is something I would put on while relaxing in my back yard or driving down the country roads of my youth. They’re something of a mix between The Eagles and America in their folk-rock fusion and its all very focused on the mellow sound mixed with some intricate guitar work over top.
Some songs nail it and others are just drab and take up space for the most part. However, every song has a really good guitar solo. It’s actually pretty interesting that they succeeded in having a good guitar section on every track. The choruses are generally catchy and memorable as well, but their verses are easily forgettable. With few exceptions most of the verses sound very similar and are sung over very boring licks that are then recycled in some variant for the next song. The opening track “Things Will Change” is a stand out, unique to the entire album for being rather fast paced and completely full in sound. Others, like “Postcards,” are very minimal and are focus on one particular feature; in this case the backing vocals. But for all the variety in the way they theme the songs they all end up sounding rather similar anyway because of the recycled licks. There were three times where the next song started and I thought I had accidently skipped to a previous song.
Overall it’s a decent folk album made by some rather skilled people that is unfortunately marred by the repetitive nature of the songs. There’s too much blank space and not enough of the interesting moments. They nailed the summer vibe, though, and they are undeniably talented so keep your eyes on them for future releases.
Top 3 Tracks:
Things Will Change
Haunted House
Is It All Worth It
