As Big As Their Name
Like the rare breed of musicians, an indie band that still manages to retain its integrity is not something you see too often these days. That was until now. Step forward FirstOfTheGiants, a Bristol based band that aren’t merely grasping for epic indie status but are striving to blast you through the walls with a sound that is as massive as their name suggests. Retaining a DIY ethos that clings to indie sentimentality, FirstOfTheGiants will restore your faith in a scene that has become more about appearance than music.
Channelling the distraught woefulness of The Smiths and polishing them off with rip roaring riffs that glisten with the imposing majesty of Joy Division, ‘Hypochondriac’ is retro indie rock shoe horned superbly in amongst a ragingly uplifting modern panache that electrifies from first to last. Washing over you like a tidal wave of enriching vitality that crashes against Stephen Powell’s disheartened yet strangely vibrant vocals, ‘Hypochondriac’ is lo-fi magnificence colliding head on with pop brilliance, making for a contagious concoction that will have the shoe gazes lifting their eyes from the floor in an instant. B side, ‘My Voodoo Doll’ buzzes with energetic vivaciousness as frenetic drums crash with rapturous hooks before running amok with Powell’s vocals as he delivers a chorus that is begging to be belted out in a stadium sing along. Ambitious indie yes, but indie with good old fashioned integrity. Now that’s something to scream about.