The Nottingham five-piece better known as The Inside Is Live have a debut album that is definitely worth your time. The Great Brand New marks their second release as a band, following on from 2013’s self-titled EP The Inside Is Live. They describe themselves as alt-rock, and for a debut, TGBN is a brilliant nod towards this genre.
The album begins with prelude ‘MMXII‘ of distant and tinny melodies which leads into ‘Brittle Bones‘. The separate 23 seconds aren’t really worthy of their own track, but offer us the catchy chords of the true album opener. As vocalist Michael Denby‘s gruff melodies enter the mix, they remind us a little of Polar Bear Club‘s Jimmy Stadt. With some nice drops, and cheeky stripped breakdowns leading backing into the big choruses, the quintet are already proving their song-writing abilities If this is a good indication of what the rest of the album holds, this is a brilliant taster.
With a intro pulling influence from more hardcore peers, ‘In Frailty‘ takes the limelight. As well as a solid guitar solo in the middle eight, we hear the vocals pushed even higher, and the guitar tinkles are just as soaring.
‘The Answer‘ proves the lads know how to write infectious and intricate hooks, meaning it’s easy to say that this is a stand-out track for us. Meanwhile ‘Decadence‘ is yet another banger, flowing from simple verses into heavy and thick choruses full of sparkle.
Title track and interlude, ‘The Great Brand New‘ is packed with slow acoustic guitar and electronic and eery ambience. It’s already clear that The Inside Is Live have the flow of the record down to a tee as each song drifts into the other, yet still not sounding too similar.
‘Hopeless Youth‘ contains some nice twinkly effects over the hammering rock elements. Slower song ‘The Moment‘ gives the vocals time to shine accompanied by just acoustic guitar. From here on the album slows and ‘Forever‘ shows us a glimpse of scream vocals that fit really well, and could spice up more of the tracks.
The pace does however perk up with ‘United Divided‘; it’s not the record’s strongest track, but the thick layering creates a tasty ambience to end their 12 track effort.
