Thanks to the retro instincts of Wolfmother and The Darkness, there won’t be a lengthy hunt to dig out our flares – which we’ll most definitely need for the debut album from Downpatrick’s second finest. (After Ash, people, Ash).
It is, unashamedly, '70s rock through-and-through, with Cormac Neeson’s voice imitating Robert Plant’s obsessively. And although they've borrowed heavily from Led Zep over the past six years, Rise proves they’re not afraid to stray away from their influences.
‘Memphis Water’ is far more of a bluesy number, and ‘Sometimes Your Love’ struts down the path trodden by Free all those years ago. ‘Always On My Mind’, meanwhile, is as close to a ballad as they come, even though the cheeky lads blatantly nick the organ bit from The Who's ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’.
You have to give The Answer their dues –they do what they do darn well – but even within their chosen genre, Rise is just a bit too by-numbers. It's bad enough to rest on your own laurels, yet alone someone else's.