aaamusic | On 11, Mar 2012

I would very much like to think of myself as a relatively cultured music fan, or at least, as cultured as a fan of pop music can get. I regularly listen to My Bloody Valentine for example. Let England Shake is wonderful and I had a brief flirtation with Einstürzende Neubauten for a couple of months or so. So you can imagine what was going through my mind while reading up on Glasgow quintet The Detours and reading comparisons to the likes of Fall Out Boy and Extreme, and hearing of them supporting the likes of Asking Alexandra. Needless to say I was all set to hate it. Call it derivative, dull, dumb and many other adjectives beginning with D. So imagine my surprise when I play this, their debut E.P, and find myself pretty much loving every moment of it. Yes, it’s nothing new, but despite what many people might say, that doesn’t mean it’s nothing special. There’s something thrillingly unreconstructed about this E.P, they don’t sound like this because they want a corporate rock dollar, they sound like this because this is precisely what they love about Rock and Roll. All three songs here are fresh, free of cynicism, and aren’t trying to be anything other than 50 foot tall slabs of glorious melodic rock and roll carried by big riffs, bigger choruses and a veritable boat load of fun.

 

Opener one last chance is easily the most accessible of the lot, carried along with a jaunty little dual guitar riff that smacks of Foo Fighters covering Iron Maiden, so needless to say it’s awesome. Ignite is miles heavier, sounding like Motley Crue at their sleaziest but still managing to have a sky scraping chorus handy. Best of the lot is closer Free, which combines the two extremes and adds gang vocals in the verse that beg on bended knee for live participation. Followed by the heaviest moment on the record in the fantastically exciting bridge. Put simply, this is a record that every music snob like me should hear, as it will surely restore their faith in something as maligned as radio rock. Or at least, you’ll know they’ll be pretending if they say they hate it.

 

Will Howard