Gavin promises hints of and nods to Manic Street Preachers, Feeder, The Pixies and Ash on his debut album. Having lived with depression, anxiety and self-harm through his teens and twenties, the story goes that he overcame his troubles largely through music. And it’s telling that there’s a positive energy that runs through ‘We Are the Ones’. ‘With a little bit of rock ‘n’ roll you can save your lives and save your souls’ he preaches evangelically on Church of Rock ‘n’ Roll’, kicking off the album with a rousing opening track.
It’s rather a shame that the album rapidly descends into rather unremarkable indie-rock. That said, I don’t want to be too hard on the guy, and there’s no shortage of buoyant choruses and accessible melodies.
Nostalgia’s all the rage these days, and Gavin has his own fond memories of yesteryear. ‘I wanna be back in 95… with you’ he sings jubilantly on ‘95’. The dancey ‘Dead End Disco Streets’ also pitches for the nostalgia vibe, both musically and in its lyrics. It’s by no means awful, but it is a bit, well, obvious.
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Still, there are some nice melodies, and when he hits it right, the results are pretty good. The vaguely Suedey bittersweetness of ‘Refugee’ has a distinct emotional pull beneath the surging guitars, a trick repeated on ‘Follow the Light’, and ‘Black Holes’ has strong hints of later Manics, which is a style Chappell-Bates seems most comfortable with.
Gavin Chappell-Bates Online
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