Airship STUCK IN THE OCEAN. Play It Again Sam

I first saw this manchester based band perform live around two years ago and was so impressed that I bought an EP from the the band’s tiny merch stand. I played all four tracks on it on our radio shows and when that was exhausted another EP turned up which also received the broadcast treatment. OK, so you get the picture and if you don’t I’ll spell it out for you: as new pop-rock guitar bands go, Airship is up there with the best of them. And this debut album confirms it…

Opening track ‘Algebra’ should be belting out from Radio 1and just about every other pop music station in the. It’s got truckloads of melody, powerful rhythm, good lyrics and excellent performances. It’s got it all. Next track ‘Invertbrate’ is a slightly darker tune dominated by one very strong rhythm section. Hell, it could well be the band’s second single.’Kids’ has a Spector-esque sound as it fairly races along with choruses that rain guitars over a relentless drum rhythm.

There’s eleven excellent tracks, diversity of sound and pace that comes through loud and clear via producer Dan Austin. It’s taken a while for this debut album to appear but it’s been worth the wait. An excellent debut.

4/5

Rise To Remain CITY OF VULTURES. EMI

“A dramatic, blistering, melodic and hugely ambitious album, CITY OF VULTURES is the sound of one of the most exciting new bands in Britain…” So goes the rather dramatic blurb that accompanied the album and, rarely, some of it actually borders on the truth. Joe Copcutt (bass), Austin Dickinson (vocals and of pretty vintage, famous rock parentage), Will Homer (rhythm guitar), Pat Lundy (drums) and Ben Tovey (lead guitar) have written and recorded arguably one of the best heavy rock records to be released in 2011 - and it’s a friggin’ debut!

But, from the onset, I have just one question: is there any need for the heaviest of metal style, undeciferable gra-gra vocals that sit alongside excellent, deciferable rock vocals? The pace of opening salvo of songs like ‘The Serpent’, ‘This Day Is Mine’, ‘City Of Vultures’ and a couple more are unrelentingly rapid and rabid, along with great melodies and good lyrics. There’s a strong hint of Deftones here which I suspect is the work of producer Colin Richardson, who has worked with bands like Slipknot, Machine Head, Trivium and Bullet For My Valentine. In other words, this is metal with a tangible commercial edge, and a hefty dose of passion.

It’s not until track eight, ‘Nothing Left’, that the pace slackens a tad with some glorious guitar riffs and soaring vocals. By track eleven, ‘Roads’, in this band’s language it slows to a crawl in the most beautiful and compelling way. This is an excellent and assured debut - inspiring even… 4/5

Johnathan Wilson GENTLE SPIRIT. Bella Union

Wilson, a native of Forest City, North Carolina, has been quietly earning a reputation as a musical jack-of-all-trades.  He is adept behind the recording console, possesses a luthier’s knowledge of all things strummed, and maintains the innate ability to conceptualize an instrument essential to providing the right colour to a track in need of a defining detail.  Whether working with promising new acts like the band Dawes, celebrated contemporary artists such as Erykah Badu and Elvis Costello, or Rock and Roll Hall of Famers such as Jackson Browne and Robbie Robertson, Wilson provides direction and support as tasty and soulful as anyone in the business today.

I have a two-hour radio show each Sunday night from 10pm to midnight and when I receive albums I listen to them in their entirety to pick out tracks that I want to play on the show. It’s why my album cases are heavily marked with green marker… After I downloaded this I played it straight away and as per usual I marked on the case which songs I would play… By track six I had chosen five songs to play in the coming weeks which indicates to me that this is an excellent album.

The opener ‘Gentle Spirit’ is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard in 2011. It wafts gently along underpinned by a solid rhythm and a voice that couldn’t be more gentle, more expressive, more compelling. These are simple songs with a stripped down instrumental backdrop, the strongest of melodies and production that reveals all in finite detail. There’s also a diversity of pace and mood that adds to the attraction of the album and performer. Dare I say it I hear vocal and song similarities to the great Paul Simon… My only criticism is that some of the songs are a little too long but if you like contemporary folk music, this album should top your buying list.

4/5