Try not to let their awful name put you off this debut from Leeds band Duels. The Bright Lights sees the band trading in the same kind of kitchen-sink estate tales espoused by the Arctic Monkeys and fellow Yorkshire outfit the Kaiser Chiefs but without the humour of Alex’s crowd and the instant catchiness of Ricky’s mob. This, however, doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing.
Album opener ‘Brothers & Sisters’ is a searing statement of intent and, driven by an infectious chorus riding a dark synth underbelly, shows off everything that's promising about Duels. Which makes it all the more disappointing then that they follow it up with ‘Things’, an awkward, too-serious-for-its-own good number that just never takes off and succeeds only in providing us with a glimpse of everything that's bad about the band.
Thankfully the aftertaste doesn’t’ linger too long as ‘Potential Futures’, about the downtrodden Jimmy DaLancia, jolts us awake again, as does the pounding ‘Animals’. ‘The Slow Build’ learns from the mistakes of ‘Things’ and, morphing from a gentle rhythm into a hypnotic lament for those that only have the hum of the television for company, it’s one of the album’s highlights.
There’s more than a cursory nod to Suede on ‘Young Believers’, with its demand to “take your modern heroes and show us why, bravado and gall set the rules that we’re living by.”
There can be no doubting the sincerity behind The Bright Lights but it’s not going to be one of the records you’d grab if your house was burning down.