Music Review/Album: 04 Jun 2009
Colm O'Hare

Perfect Stranger

This debut offering from Dublin live favourites is well worth the wait – with hints of Fleetwood Mac, Talking Heads, Springsteen and Snow Patrol.

The Chapters’ debut almost didn’t happen due to nightmare financial and record company shenanigans. The enforced delay might have done them a favour – the Dublin quintet are already a huge live draw and the songs have had plenty of road testing. With memorable, irresistibly catchy tracks like the download hit, ‘Videotapes’ – a glorious blend of Fleetwood Mac and The Blue Nile – and ‘Automobiles’ which borrows the riff from The Cars’ ‘My Best Friend’s Girl’ (The clue just might be in the title) the album certainly delivers on the band’s promise. Meanwhile, ‘Juice‘ hints at a Sparks influence with frontman. Ross McNally hitting the falsetto notes with ease while ‘Looking For Love’ boasts a psycho-killer Talking Heads bassline and guitar riff. It’s not all breezy indie pop rock and they tone things down on the Snow Patrol-ish ‘Moving’, the acoustic balladry of ‘Ukrainian Gymnast’ and the album’s Springsteenesque slow-burning closer ‘Home’.

An impressive debut.

Key Track: ‘Videotape’