England’s northwest is alive with fresh jangly enthusiasm courtesy two bands springing from the region’s established music hubs, Liverpool and Manchester. Both Keyside and The Guest List have utilized the now ubiquitous drip-single-strategy of releasing nearly all the songs from an upcoming debut LP over the course of a year or more before it actually arrives to create interest and build an audience. And it has worked a treat for both bands, getting them loads of press and onto the UK top albums charts.
Keyside’s self-titled release features 12 tunes, 9 of which initially saw light as singles and EP cuts. As the early releases were chosen with an ear to catching the attention-overwhelmed audiences of today, the songs are all catchy but can survive multiple playings. Collecting them all in one place has, not surprisingly, produced an LP brimming with should-be hits. I could single out “Nikita,” “Down My Way” and “Rock My Love” as particularly strong but any fan might choose a different combination. The deluxe version of the album even digs further back into the band’s catalogue, including a brighter, more professionally produced version of “Paris to Marseille,” a track originally released in 2023. The three new songs that appear here are not cutting room leftovers either. In fact, “Red Ruby Red” may vie for the top track here with a jaunty bounce reminiscent of fellow Scousers The La’s. Altogether Keyside is one supremely fine debut. Despite releasing the material over a two year period the record has a sonic and songwriting consistency that is impressive. Sure to be voted one of the top ‘repeat play’ LPs of the year.
When I first heard The Guest List doing “Something Real” I was struck by the song’s dynamic tension, how a sense of anticipation kept renewing and resolving effortlessly. Other singles offered widely different takes on how to play with this taut sort of song form. Some like “Ruine” and “Mundane” mix an intermittent rock grind with more measured vocals while others like “You Should Care” exude a more Killers-like intensity. “If Ever Your Devil is Kind” conjures a wonderfully ‘falling in a dream’ kind of panicked pleasure. “Weatherman” just sneaks up on you with its haunting hooks. Like Keyside’s debut, most of the songs here (7 of 12) preceded the recent official release of Something Real. The five new songs on the LP add even more diversity to the going ons. “Sick Animal” combines country touches with a lovely histrionic chorus, “Slow Down Sally” builds up from a low-key folk feel to a Beatlesque turn, while “Craven” has a slow, stately and yet ominous cadence. And then the record ends with “The Only Ones,” a dark but classy Costello-ish ballroom ballad. The depth of songwriting here suggests this is a band that has only just begun to explore what they can do. Watch this space!
If you’re looking to scout an exciting musical frontier, you’ll want to go north these days. Northern England is just rife with talent. And these two bands are just the advance patrol – I see more emerging talent on the horizon.
Photo: fragment of The Guest List single art for “161.”
