The Blizzards have been lumbered with the ‘Irish band most likely to’ tag for some time now, so it comes as relief to report that their debut album is everything fans will have hoped for. A remarkably confident and infectiously upbeat indie salvo, A Public Display Of Affection throws many familiar shapes but wins the listener over through its sheer, unyielding exuberance.
Just how much of the album’s brash immediacy is down to the presence of star producer Michael Beinhorn is difficult to say. Certainly, he’s drawn something special out of The Blizzards, helping crafting an album that, in places, exudes an effortless spark and shimmer.
Still, Beinhorn is only mortal, and The Blizzards’ rookie songwriting occasionally lets the side down. Following the glittering one-two opening punch of ‘Freaky’ and ‘Miss Fantasia Preaches’, the early single ‘Trouble’ stutters, its vague reggae pretensions running aground on a less than convincing chorus. Happily though, such gaps in quality control are rare. For a first-time LP in fact, A Public Display scores an impressively high hit-to-miss ratio. There’s also a great deal of humour on display: frontman Niall Breslin is a teasing and witty lyricist, as evinced by ‘Dangerous Bitches’ and, especially, the quite hilarious tirade ‘Why Do You Fancy Scumbags?’.
In a world of identikit haircut bands, The Blizzards have delivered a giddy rush of guitar pop that feels brighter and more buoyant than anything else on the scene. Today Mullingar, tomorrow the world?