THE SWEET SCIENCE

‘Hardluck Hotel’, the opening track on this debut from the north Dublin four-piece, is a perfect example of the kind of melodic, Rickenbacker-fuelled power pop that has been missing in action since the heyday of Teenage Fanclub. Elsewhere Gatsby channel The Beatles, Big Star and Badfinger as well as the Postcard-era Glasgow school of jangle pop. Highlights include ‘Love is Somewhere Still’, ’The Engineer’ and ‘Song For The Ages’. They change tack slightly on the closing track, ‘Already Gone’, a slow-burning mid-tempo ballad that veers closer to stadium rock territory. Overall? The Sweet Science hits the sweet spot.