Red Light Company – Fine Fascination

Red Light Company make no bones about the fact that they’re here “to make a huge record”. And with their debut they have fulfilled this aim: Fine Fascination is built on pounding drums, meaty riffs and the kind of hooks that tunnel into your ears and refuse to come out. Their sound is a careful concoction of American pop-metal (Scheme Eugene), Editors-style post-punk efficiency (First We Land) and choruses plucked from the Gary Lightbody school of rousing crescendos (Words Of Spectacular) – all delivered by a singer who sounds like a less androgynous Brian Molko. As such, it’s very easy to enjoy if you’re not careful. But engage your critical receptors and it turns out to be not just tiresome in its effort to be “huge” - which might fly with the odd stadium rock purist - but a faded patchwork of well-worn rock clichés. [Nick Mitchell]