10

Solid debut album

Spring Offensive’s last record, a very assured EP, had a jagged rhythmic edge, great vocals, solid guitar work and memorable melodies, this record, their debut album, follows through on the promise of that EP with seven cracking tunes ranging from emotional and atmospheric to anthemic and melodic. Opening track ‘I Found Myself Smiling’ is one of the more brooding tunes, a slow and steady build makes the pay off in the closing moments all the more spine tingling. ‘Abacus Rex’ injects jerky stop/start rhythms into the guitars and the backing vocals add layers, making you want to sing along.

The vocal delivery is one of the things that makes this band so good; frontman Lucas Whitworth has an emotional tone and can do gently emotive or loud and angsty equally as well. On the whole Spring Offensive have quite a minimal sound, but there are moments of swelling intensity in all the tracks and as the album progresses and you discover more in each song to enjoy, the vocals stand out more and more. Tunes like ‘The Cable Routine’ (a favourite from the last EP) really showcases his range and as the music rises and falls, so does the emotion in his voice. On ‘Everything Other Than This’ minimal guitar and drums are given a boost with a great melody but as is often the case with this album there are also some nice quirky, but understated riffs and the rise to a crescendo of noise at the end finishes things conclusively and leaves you wanting more.

This is a cracking album, some great tunes, quite melancholy on the whole, but with anthemic moments. The musicianship is technically very solid but always quite understated so you have to really listen to realise how deftly the band plays, they make everything sound easy, and of course, those great vocals bring it all together.