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Dibnah, Fred

Eureka Machines have clearly spent some considerable time and effort on album number two and it has certainly paid off. Fronted by Chris Catalyst (Anti-Product, Sisters Of Mercy') they have been on the fringes for a while but this is a marked step up from debut album "Do Or Die" and deserves to see them catapulted into the mainstream.

Title track 'Champion The Underdog' sets the tempo with a superbly catchy riff and chorus and there's little let up from here on in. Any song that name checks Fred Dibnah has to be a winner and so it proves! I must admit that on the first listen I was already pretty excited about the rest of the album after track one. If you blended 'A'. The Wildhearts, Honeycrack and Anti-Product (with whom Catalyst had a tenure) and threw in a dose of Feeder you'd probably concoct Eureka Machines; they take everything that's great about the aforementioned bands, the harmonies, the big riffs and just damn fine melodies and deliver it in waves.

'These Are The People Who Live In My House' is pure pop punk, maybe a little too much so on first listen but this is one of those songs that just grows and grows on you and it's almost impossible not to get into it. There are times on the album when they sound a lot like Honeycrack and '(I'm) Wasting My Time (Yet Again)' is one of those times. The song structure and the harmonies could have been lifted straight from 'Prozaic' but be assured that this is a compliment rather than a criticism.

The production really stands out, everything is well mixed and it has little synth string parts that really add something extra. It's a big, full sounding record that has the ability to kick ass and to draw you in at the same time. They never veer into hardcore territory and they never quite put the needle in the red but there are some really fat riffs and some quite glorious choruses that are lifted to a different level thanks to the production.

I'm not normally one for favouring the slower tracks but I'll make an exception here with the outstanding 'Everything's Fine'. Shades of the Manics in the verse give way to the kind of anthemic chorus that quite simply anyone would be proud of! Back in the days when singles meant something this would have stormed the charts and it will be criminal if it remains hidden away as an album track.

'The Best Night Of My Life' tips the hat to Honeycrack again, whilst 'Beginning Of The End Of The World' could easily be a Wildhearts song. There's no getting away from that fact but Eureka Machines have more than enough of their own stamp on it for it not to be an issue. There are no weak tracks here whatsoever and whilst 'Zero Hero' clocks in at over eight minutes, it just works so well and moves so fluidly that you really don't notice the length. Final track 'A Ballad to Finish' does exactly what it says on the tin and winds it all down very nicely.

I've had this on heavy rotation since I first heard it and I won't be ready to put it back on the metaphorical shelf for some time yet, without a doubt an early contender for album of the year. Refreshing, uplifting and extremely well crafted, 'Champion The Underdog' is the most welcome arrival of the year to date.