CREDIT: CATFISH AND THE BOTTLEMEN
A group to satisfy those who favour The Kooks and Arctic Monkeys. Check out Balcony.

If you haven’t yet heard of Catfish and the Bottlemen, sit down buckle up and plug in your headphones. Or perhaps turn up you stereo and pour a few beers, because this is definitely an album to rock out to while fending off the winter blues. Catfish and the Bottlemen is a collection of indie rockers who would be right at home on tour with The Kooks and Arctic Monkeys. For a band that spent its early days covering The Beatles and setting up impromptu shows in parking lots, it’s come a long way.

Catfish and the Bottlemen dropped its debut album called Balcony on January 6.

Catfish’s sound is refined, yet edgy, and packed to the brim with passion. Balcony contains a moderate amount of variety while still remaining true to British indie rock. The first song, “Homesick,” has a quiet introduction but contains incredible dynamic shifts throughout the song that foreshadow how the album will unfold. The song begins quite bare with only muted guitar and clapping to accompany the singer. When “Homesick” reaches the chorus, however, it explodes into crashing cymbals and huge electric guitars that accompany eloquent crowd vocals before dropping right back down into another quiet and refined verse. This dynamic keeps the song fresh as it progresses and serves to create the perfect mindset for listening to the album.

The songs on Balcony all retain the similar upbeat dynamic of “Homesick,” while embracing elements of surf music and garage rock. All of these are carried through with heavy tom-and-cymbal drumbeats and crunchy guitar riffs backed by powerful distorted guitars, used to create an effective wall of sound to compliment the prevalent raspy vocals of Van Mc- Cann.

This is a predominantly cheerful album, even if some of the lyrical content airs on the side of melancholy. The only track on Balcony that truly takes a step back from the aggressive thrashing is entitled “Hourglass.” This song slowly builds from an acoustic guitar and singing but crests just before reaching the same level of aggression as the rest of the album. The use of piano and cleaner guitar tones creates an atmosphere that seems out of place with the rest of the songs. “Hourglass” would have done better as part of a separate EP or even as a single release, but if you can look past this oddball song, Balcony is a fantastic choice for a pickme- up this January.

Rating: 3 out of 5