The Twang - Wide Awake (Polydor)
3/5
By: Michael Cragg
Big things are expected from Birmingham five-piece The Twang. The BBC Sound of 2007 poll placed them at number two behind recent chart behemoth Mika. Yet if Mika is all flounce and flamboyance then The Twang are a 'real' band for 'real' blokes, simultaneously recalling both the baggy era of the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays, and also the chest-beating bravado of Kasabian and Oasis. To add to the growing buzz the NME recently awarded them the Phillip Hall Radar Award...
Such meaningless hyperbole overshadows the first listen to their debut single, 'Wide Awake'. Incongruously, it all kicks off with what sounds like a 'Boy'-era U2 riff, guitarist Stu Hartland perfectly aping the Edge at his most epic. Once the drums kick in things move towards the much-mooted Baggy influence, a lopping drum pattern underpinning Phil Etheridge's half-slurred vocals. As the verses unfold you can picture him, mic in hand, doing that curious monkey walk perfected by obvious influence Ian Brown...
What starts off as a mildly diverting fur minutes soon grows into a mini-epic, a song perfectly designed for the repeat button. 'Wide Awake' won't change lives and the jury's still out as to whether The Twang can ever add up to more then the sum of their influences, but hey, it's a start.
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