AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR

Kickin' debut proper from these Irish posties, stuffed to the seams with youthful power and emotion, showing vague influences from alternative rock but smashing it into pieces and replacing it with something much more explosive. Closer to a headbutt from a stout, neck-less soccer hooligan. A sound is achieved that penetrates deep with the dual guitars, drums & bass creating wall after wall of seismic sea waves as the band pounds the shoreline. Powerhouse drummer Chris Wee, bassist Johnny Adger and the guitars of Tony Wright & Rory Friers are all-for-one. Their approach is unimpeachably that of a team, creating a huge, absolute, unselfish singularity with the music, never allowing individualism to get in the way.

'Set Guitars to Kill' establishes the bare-knuckle tone, Wright & Friers echoing a distant storm, Adger thudding out accents underlaid with Wee's phenomenal drums (this is no 'wee' player), culminating in a beautiful twin guitar line. A touch of Brit-alt for 'A Little Bit of Solidarity Goes a Long Way', jingling Math in 'Clench Fists,Grit Teeth' with more skull-rattling hunks of rhythm and progressing well past 6 minutes into some unexpected stuff. The Edge's impact is heard on 'I Capture Castles' with a good mix of military strike and stony spacerock. Fun and garage-like 'Start a Band' and 'Tip of the Hat,Punch in the Face' with spectacular post-metallic breaks, totally killer 'If it Ain't Broke,Break it', ending in softer territory for 'The Voiceless' and 'Eat the City,Eat it Whole'.

Complex though not purebred math/post and with far more emphasis on the expression of feeling rather than the formation of thought, ASIWYFA is one hell of a band that would likely blow away almost any poor devils who were dumb enough to go on after them. And like a group of rioting footy fans who are "Just out for a good time,mate", this foursome will quite easily crush you into bite-size bits. Right. Toodle pip.