Alvarez Kings are four loveable mop-tops from Sheffield led by brothers Simon (lead guitar/vocals) and Paul Thompson (bass/backing vocals).
Rest assured that being named after a 50s Mafia gang shows a devotion to The Sopranos rather than any shady links to Italy's criminal underworld.
The lively title track of this EP is a great tune with a guitar sound that, by accident or design, owes much to the Cape Cod kwassa-kwassa pop of Vampire Weekend. The influence of musical heroes like The Beatles and The Strokes is also evident.
They have quite a conventional Indie sound with strong melodies which err more towards pop than rock.
A point in their favour is that they have enough confidence to include a romantic acoustic song (Picking Up The Pieces) and another slow hidden song rather than going hell for leather with four up-tempo tunes.
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The other two tracks - Fractured Bones And Reputations and The Other Side Of Sadness - both have strident, vaguely reggae-ish, rhythms.
All round, a solid aperitif but the real test will be if the band can build on the promise shown here for the main course of a full length album.
Alvarez Kings online
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