You know that song from the atrocious 2FM ad with the guy getting showered in a pile of boxes? Well, now you know its creators: Vega4. ‘You And Me’, the tune in question, is an irritatingly catchy earworm of shameless indie-pop, which doubtless is going to blow up in everyone’s faces like a comedy cigar.
It’s also Vega4’s snappy opening gambit from their debut album, a supremely polished, if occasionally lifeless, collection of pounding indie anthems and drippy mewl moments.
There is an Irish connection here. Singer Johnny McDaid hails from the North, meeting his more exotic bandmates from Canada, New Zealand, and England during a stint in London. He protests that with all these disparate influences that, “it’s so hard to describe our sound”. Er... not quite. You sound like Snow Patrol, Johnny. Even down to the Nordy twang.
Producer Jacknife Lee has gotten his Midas tinged mitts on the lads euphoric, stadium-wannabe, sports-montage incidental rock and gleaned some pleasant moments. ‘Traffic Jam’ is a perfectly accommodating piece of jumped-up Doves-y style bliss; ‘A Billion Tons Of Light’ is a sumptuously adroit confection – driven, uplifting, yet tender; ‘Tearing Me Apart’ actually contains some bellicose moments of indignation.
The rest? Slick, populist, almost faultless in their execution: a Valium drip of reassuring rock. No cojones, though, and no personality. That’s the rub.