Anthemic is not generally my thing. Oasis, U2 and Arcade Fire for example can all do one for the most part! But I do have a soft spot for young Scottish band Neon Waltz, whose music definitely fits that description and who have just released their debut album Strange Hymns. Hailing from near to John O'Groats, as far up as you can go on the British mainland they're fresh-faced and filled with an optimism and vim that is highly enviable.
Most importantly, they're ambitious. And tasteful. Name-dropping The Band, National and Grizzly Bear as bands they'd like to emulate. Certainly a better path to follow than Embrace, Starsailor or The Sterophonics if they'd wished to choose British forbears instead. They're certainly fond of that barreling, echoing organ sound that Garth Hudson made their trademark all those years back.
Not all of the record works for me. There are songs which slip the wrong side of the bluster line. But when they're good, they're fine and certainly highly promising. You get the sense that they could really be a bit of a force a couple of albums down the line. I'll give you these three in the meantime.Sometimes youth knows!
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