El Salvador

According to their PR blurb, Athlete have been likened to the Beach Boys, Pavement, Turin Brakes, Mercury Rev and Beck. For some reason, I can’t help thinking that the most apt comparison for ‘El Salvador’ is ‘Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life’. From the outset, it’s a slightly dozy, gormless, dungaree-wearing Cockney geezer of a track. It’s inoffensive, endearing and happy-go-lucky in the extreme. Athlete are definitely a band that stylistically are going through something of an indie-ecosystem-placement crisis, but at least this puts them in a different class to all the other contenders.