New Messiahs open their self-titled EP with Nobody Wants Me (‘till I’m Taken); a big and brash anthem, laden with a horn section and trumpet solo! It’s real upbeat and the perfect sounds for summer; bringing to mind bands like Babybird, Divine Comedy and Lightening Seeds. It’s unashamedly old-fashioned and all the better for it.
On The Kids Are With You, Paul Manion comes over like Jon McClure doing big band soul; with the clean wah-wahs and the funky bass lines. On Long Way Home he even sounds like Neil Hannon. The track has a great marching beat; something similar to Paul McCartney’s Dance Tonight; with its nostalgic lyrics ‘of plastic soldiers and paper planes’, it is also reminiscent of Beatles’ tracks like When I’m Sixty Four and Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.
The closing Lost Weekend starts off a much more sedate affair but soon kicks it up a notch and ends up like some 70’s glam Mott The Hoople stomper. ‘Her black eye matches my black eye’, the perfect lyrics describing a debauched night out and as the song fades out there are even bongos!
You got to listen to it a few times to be able to take everything in. There are many layers, many instruments in what is a very well produced and very British record. Stuck in a time warp somewhere between 1974 and 1994; New Messiahs do a good job of producing a collage of off the best bits of Britpop and Glamrock; and you have the added element of a brass bringing to mind recent Chamber Pop luminaries such as Ben Folds and The Divine Comedy. Very enjoyable and I’ll look forward to seeing if they can pull it off live.
SCORE: 7/10
Alternative Barnsley 