Album per day: Day 13

Artist: Catfish and the Bottlemen
Album: The Balcony
Released: 2014

It's refreshing when acts placed in the indie bracket come out with new and innovative ideas. One of the newest bands looking to achieve that are Catfish and the Bottlemen, hailing from Llandudno, Wales. Judging from the suggestive album cover alone on their debut record The Balcony, I would expect something a little edgier than what previous listens have suggested, but here we go.
Opening track Homesick is no statement of intent, but it is colourful and bright, following a quiet-loud formula. Fellow singles Kathleen and Cocoon are both straight up catchy indie bangers, with Cocoon especially cranking things up a notch with guitar solos and a huge chorus. You can already see the inevitable image of 17 year old girls on their male friend's shoulders at Reading and Leeds Festival, and the guy thinks he has a shot but the girl is too captivated by lead singer Van McCann's flowing locks. It's by the time that Fallout kicks in that the resemblance to the music of The Kooks is more than apparent, in both music and vocal style. I quite like The Kooks, so I don't find myself disliking what I'm hearing, but I can get critical when similarities are more than apparent, or verging on just directly ripping off. There are also flashes of indie stalwarts The Libertines and The Courteeners, and even some early Arctic Monkeys scattered around.
Business sounds like exactly the sort of staple track I'd found played every Saturday night at my old Wolverhampton haunt, Blast Off. The last minute of Rango raises the song to great heights that it failed to hit in the previous two minutes. Sidewinder is the probably the best song on the album, simply because of the lead guitar work distinguishing it from about eight of the other tracks, and closing track Tyrants is again awash with lead guitar melodies that sound like they've come out of Johnny Marr's scrapbook.
The band's debut album, as anticipated, wasn't perfect. There's nothing new to get too excited about, but what there is is an enjoyable record if you're in the right age bracket. The quartet though, sound a bit dated for me. Comparing them to those aforementioned bands would only seek to support my claim. The death of this genre clearly hasn't reached northern Wales, because if this album had been released about ten years previously, then these guys would be riding on the crest of a wave. Sadly though, the world has moved on, and it may be time for them to move on and show some more inventiveness on album number two in an attempt to remain unforgotten. Lyrics about teenage angst and living life in the middle of nowhere will only get you so far, boys.

Rating: 6/10
Recommended songs: Cocoon, Sidewinder