Le Reno Amps - Tear It Open

The desire to overcomplicate things is all too often the bane of the music world. Le Reno Amps address this problem in their mission statement: simple melody will be at the core of their music. On Tear It Open, the Aberdonian quartet have met their own criteria and delivered upon their promises, without jeopardising their most engaging quality – variety. This is an imaginative, theatrical and enjoyable album that casts its net wide, without settling anywhere long enough to be classified. Opening track Outlaws sets the tone: its tremolo-heavy guitar riff is equal parts spaghetti-western and The Shadows. The occasional dabble with electronica pays dividends too; the synthesized intro to The Gilded Road sets the record up for the grand finale its onslaught of crunching guitars duly delivers. Some tracks, like Slow Decay, don’t scale such heights, though this fails to take the sheen off a polished and entertaining listen. [Finbarr Bermingham]