Before The Calm

This Wigan four-piece with a tenuous (mainly geographical, it has to be said) Verve connection have accumulated a load of accolades and plaudits on the basis of a handful of singles released over the past year. They include the excellent indie debut 'Quarantine' (sadly not featured here), and 'Scars' and 'Audition', both of which are included. Carefully chosen support slots with the likes of Wilco, Grand Drive, Son Volt and a well-received Glastonbury appearance have further enhanced their reputation, generating much next-big-thing speculation across the water.

Sonically, the Verve link is irrelevant. Judging by the languorous, impressionistic approach to song structure here, Witness clearly wouldn't recognise a bloated anthemic chorus or a laddish swagger if it walked up and decked them. Radiohead, REM and especially Talk Talk influences are much more apparent. Singer Gerard Starkey's mannered vocals also recall the quivery vibrato of FYC's Roland Gift, while the carefully-crafted and understated production and songs barely disguise the absence of soul.

That said 'Scars' is a quite impressive piece of post-modern rock with its dreamy acoustic textures and metronomic, slow dance beat. The hypnotic piano and discordant guitar frenzy on 'Freezing Over Morning' also gets under your skin, while 'Hijacker' similarly slow-burns its way into your consciousness.

It's an unsettling, claustrophobic record, as underlined by the Gothic organ on 'My Own Old Song' and the white noise on 'Heirloom'. Ultimately, the turgid pace and lack of tempo bears down heavily on the listener.

Before The Calm is a frustratingly uneven record, which promises more than it delivers.