For a four piece of Liverpudlian lads formed in the relatively recent 2013, Circa Waves have had a glittering debut to their musical career. Opening for an iconic band such as the Libertines is not luck’s doing, but the work of the bands animated live presence, the essence of which they have managed to bottle with Young Chasers.
‘Get Away’ kicks things off on the 13-piece and sets the fast post-punk pace for most of the album. We then progress into the sunshine fuelled ‘T-Shirt Weather’ and ‘Fossils’, two song that have gained cult favourite status and will no doubt be a highlight of 2015’s festival run. Besides the fact they have littered most of our twitter news feeds in the form of screenshots, these two songs are as catchy and feel good as The Wombats ‘Let’s Dance To Joy Division’ and have catapulted the bands status to its highest peak to date.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9z_cyIgE9s&w=740&h=422]
Mellowing out towards the middle of the album, ‘Lost It’, ‘My Love’ and ‘Deserve This’ show some more chilled-out tracks without compromising on the bands crafted sound. ‘Deserve This’ is the first of many songs on the album that will have you imagining a patch-work quilt of Circa Waves’ musical inspiration, with a Kooks reminiscence. ‘Good For Me’ shows a budding Libertines sound, which is then solidified on ‘So Long’ with a more polished interpretation of the Libs classic ‘smashing things on other things’ signature. Homage to The Strokes’ ‘Under Control’ also emerges on this track, carrying the torch to once again reaffirm the view that no, guitar music is not dead, and no, it won’t be going anywhere any time soon.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WWIQpNcywk&w=740&h=422]
Whilst musical inspiration is rife on the album (Pigeon Detectives and The Strokes ‘Is This It?’ to add to aforementioned influences) there is something you can’t quite put your finger on. A sound that may well be the signature of the next big indie-pop front runners. Can we really expect any less of a band that were hailed to have Zayne Lowe’s “hottest record in the world” with ‘Stuck In My Teeth’, which is an utter highlight of Young Chasers – perhaps even overshadowing the title track. However, strong lines – “I swear to God I’m not the same / As I was the other week / I got you stuck in my teeth” – and an album of tunes, cannot disguise its few flaws. Towards the end of the album, you begin to get lost in a couple of (not necessarily bad) songs that would perhaps be better placed amongst the stronger tracks on the album, ‘Talking Out Loud’ and ‘Best Years’ for reference.
But even with that considered, the album is destined for sweet indie-pop greatness, and anyone with a Spotify account should scout out Circa Waves for a sound as quintessential to the British Summer as a cold cider in an August beer garden.
Words by Rachael Griffiths.