NME « The RingMaster Review

With their new album Rooftops due for release in May indie rock band The Sea give an advance taste with their new single New York, and what a full and vibrant teaser it is. Their first release since2009, the track is a mighty feast of big melodies and even bigger sounds that lift the emotions and send the senses reeling in a swell of warmth and energy from its upbeat heart.

The Sea consists of brothers Peter (vocals, guitar, piano) and Alex D’Chisholme (vocals, drums) and has only has one intention which is to inflame the heart with infectiously melodic tracks brought within a large and welcoming wealth of sound. New York epitomises their intent perfectly and lays great anticipation down for the forthcoming album.

The duo began in 2007 out of their garage in Newquay, their jamming sharing time with surfing. The following year saw them voted “best unsigned band in the UK” by XFM radio as well as grabbing a support slot for The Enemy at London’s Brixton Academy. 2009 saw firstly their debut single Love Love Love thrust them to stronger attention, the release selling out within two months of its January release and receiving impressive acclaim from the UK music media such as NME, Kerrang, The Fly and also becoming the single of the week in The Guardian. Released on their own Lusty Records label the pair followed it up with their further acclaimed debut album Get It Back, again off their own fiercely independent backs on Lusty in the UK and Pop Up Records in Europe. Subsequent singles Don’t You Want Me and By Myself only cemented and increased their stock as did the touring for the remainder of the year within England and Europe which included supporting Muse at their Teignmouth homecoming gigs in September and a gig at the CMJ in New York in October.

2010 saw the band work on follow up album Rooftops bringing in producer John Cornfield (Muse, Supergrass, Oasis, Razorlight) to help realise the bigger sound they were contemplating for the release. Alongside this The Sea played four separate European festival headline slots including the Musikschutzgebiet Festival in Germany and Kuahgartn Open Air Festival Switzerland and for the latter part of the year with the recordings into their final stages played 20 gigs in seven countries in 22 days all of which sold out and ending in their triumphant UK homecoming in London. Shows continued into 2011 across Europe and N. America until a freak surfing accident that summer left Alex with a broken neck and the distinct possibility he would never play or walk again. But he is a drummer after all and within months he was back behind his kit, at full steam and engaged in Autumn tours through Europe, New York and Montreal.

New York marks their welcomed recording return with an anthemic power alongside a fine melodic finesse and sound that sets The Sea up for another successful year. The song confidently strides in on eager yet compliant guitars and rhythms, the sound a warm invitation before expanding with irresistible glorious arms of dazzling horns and grand harmonies. The result is an insatiable rousing of the senses and emotions, a song one cannot fail to be swept up to joyful heights and in to breathlessness from. New York is immense; a towering explosive creature that one just knows is as mighty live.

If New York is the indication of what Rooftops is going to treat us too roll on May, in fact let us delete April and get right too it.

RingMaster 03/04/2012

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An album that fluctuates from excellence to brilliance, About Girls from Hatcham Social is a vibrant and fully engaging feast of pleasure and creativity. The second album from the UK alternative band is a full meal for the senses with starters of inviting hypnotic hooks, a full course of deep stirring ingenuity and a dessert of delicious melodic treats. The release is a completely infectious collection of thirteen impressive and deliriously uplifting songs revelling in a wealth of imaginative and heartfelt songwriting.

The London based quartet first drew firm attention with their debut album You Dig The Tunnel, I’ll Hide The Soil of 2009, receiving album of the week or month status in the likes of Vice, NME, and Artrocker. Now with a revamped line-up of Toby Kidd (guitar/vocals), Finn Kidd (drums), David Fineberg (bass) and Jerome Watson (synth/guitar) the band look set to grab even stronger and further acclaim once About Girls released through Fierce Panda unveils its irresistible charms upon the masses.

The album simply ripples with pulsating melodic and mesmeric ingenuity from start to finish, often bringing a familiarity that nestles very happily within the ear. The songs are all fresh and unique but come like old heart borne friends to make the album an instantaneous pleasure to fall within. The band has an instinctive feel and grasp on catchy melodies and hooks that avoid cheap tricks and obvious lures to pull in the sense. Hatcham Social alongside the likes of JacksonsWarehouse and Innercity Pirates have an organic touch which takes the listener on an exhilarating ride to reveal new ‘sights’ along aural journeys other artists have made bland.

NY Girl opens up proceedings with a deep pulsating bass vein throbbing behind incisive attention seeking guitars. The song is a dirty garage slice of indie rock ‘n’ roll that drips a confidence to its swagger and highly charged sound. The song starts things off with a formidable intensity and might that actually belies the following variety of essential sounds to come. Having opened up ears and grabbed full focus from the senses the band step back into the crystalline melodic grace of Nicola Tells Me next. Carrying a Lloyd Cole/Josef K like retro sound the song sways with cascades of firebug light and touching warmth.

Within two songs the diversity of the band has been unveiled something the album repeatedly impresses with. The likes of the wonderful Lois Lane with its mesmeric stomp, the contagious Like An Animal a song you simply cannot resist joining in with, and the dynamic Little Savage all take the emotions on an eager and fulfilled dance. The glory of the album does not stop there, the band giving extra keen flavours with songs like the scintillating I Look Like A God When You Dance with its striking Tom Petty feel and the Costelloesque All Summer Long. From beginning to its last dynamic note, About Girls is a real deep pleasure which is hard to leave even once it has left you.

For all the great sounds and creativity on the album the highlight is the simply breath taking track Would You. The song is stunning, an enthused infection that wraps itself joyful around the ear and beyond. With rambling guitars, playful rhythms and expressive vocals all leading to the anthemic chorus surrounded by glittering electronic bedazzlements, the song is a summer stroll for the heart.

Hatcham Social has in About Girls released the soundtrack for your emotions, a weave of dazzling light and inspired melodies to lift every dark corner of the heart and a companion for every aspect of your day. The album is a definite contender for album of the year and just waiting for you to fall into its welcoming arms.

RingMaster 28/03/2012