Combining spiky, angular, guitar textures and tightly wound choruses with the kind of fiery passion and unbridled energy that is de rigueur for the genre, this Dublin five-piece tick all the right boxes in the indie stakes. Coming across like a blend of post-punk and power-pop, there are touches of The Jam, The Buzzcocks and Television, along with latter day practitioners such as Franz Ferdinand and Arctic Monkeys on what is a very strong debut. ‘Ooh Ooh’ is a terrific opener – the frantic bass and drum intro, heralding razor-sharp guitars and confident vocals from front-man Kevin Homan. ‘Prying Eyes’ is a full-on assault of buzz-saw guitars while, with its cheesy organ and fast paced tempo ‘When You Go’ borrows the riff from the ‘B52’s ‘Rock Lobster’ virtually note for note.
The wailing sirens on ‘Thieves & Co’ – a definite highlight – calls to mind The Ruts’ ‘Babylon’s Burning’. Clocking in at just under three minutes, it neatly distils all that is great about Identity Parade, boasting a memorable melody, explosive guitar riffage and defiant chorus.
A dramatic change in mood and style comes with, ‘Standing In The Sun’ a cheery, acoustic romp in a mid-period Bob Dylan mode that also wouldn’t sound out of place on the Waterboys’ Fisherman’s Blues. It’s back to epic grandstanding with the Stranglers-sounding, ‘Always Right’ and the atmospheric, and decidedly more experimental closer, ‘Vampires’. Excellent stuff.