aaamusic | On 23, Apr 2012

I’ve never heard of The Cast of Cheers before, but they officially have my new favourite band name. What a relief then that I also really like their new track Animals. It has a lively and fresh sound, built up from intricate riffs, pleasantly agitated rhythms and picturesque harmonies, all of which are developed and played around with in a genuinely inventive and dramatically satisfying musical collage. The vocals have a rich sincerity to them that nicely complements the earnestness of the music, and the band does a great job of varying their sound, contrasting the vivid instrumental combinations of the verses with a much starker accompaniment for the choruses, consisting of just single repeated guitar notes and rapid drum rhythms. The song builds up in complexity to a very effective and stirring end section. All in all, it’s a great track that bodes very well for their debut album released later this year.

★★★★★

Rupert Uzzell