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REVIEW: Catfish & The Bottlemen’s “Soundcheck”

“I raced through soundcheck just to meet you on your fag break and you convinced me to put life aside and want you.”

I love it already.

Singer Van McCann‘s accent, the upbeat, summery vibes and the usual heart on your sleeve inspired lyrics had me humming along after the first listen and countless more will no doubt will have me screaming the words and drumming on the steering wheel on my way home from work on Friday.

Yes, goofy but loveable Brit indie rockers Catfish and the Bottlemen are back with a catchy-as-hell new song Soundcheck. Written by McCann and produced by Dave Sardy (Oasis, Wolf Mother, Jet, The Gorillaz), Soundcheck is getting us all very excited for the band’s upcoming second album due for release later this year. Howl and Echoes was lucky to catch them live when they supported the Kooks in January last year and now we’re hoping the new album will spark the need for another Australian tour after the band’s heartbreaking last minute cancellation before last year’s Splendour in the Grass.  McCann says of the album, “I feel like the last album was the support band, or even the soundcheck and this one’s the headliner.” A big call considering how good their debut Balcony was, with tracks like Kathleen  and Cocoon, but we’ve got no doubt they’ll back it up.

The second Soundcheck starts McCann’s drawl catches your attention, with “Maybe I don’t act the way I used to because I don’t feel the same about you.” The drums come in, your feet are already tapping and your head’s bobbing in preparation for the little “WOOP!” you can just hear as they launch into another anthemic chorus. You can picture a crowd full of weird haircuts, ripped black t-shirts and tight jeans singing every word along with McCann. Although the sound isn’t anything new from them, it’s still freakin’ good and I’m not ready for them to change or experiment when they do this so damn well. I am however, very excited to hear what they have in store for us on the rest of the album.

Cheers for another banger boys.

Image: The Independent