The Hornblower Brothers - Adventures In The National Geographic EP

The Hornblower Brothers are cursed before they’ve even started: they come with the recommendation of patron saint of borecore Steve Lamacq. But as this debut EP's title suggests, there's plenty excitement to be found in the humdrum. These five mild-mannered Englishmen have produced an engagingly quirky critique of modern British apathy, in thrall to Half Man Half Biscuit’s scuffed and sarky indie pop, with dogged cheerfulness and humour to boot. What’s striking about the Brothers, however, is their wistfulness: imagine the C86 minnows if they’d eschewed '60s nostalgia for 21st-century disillusionment. What’s funny is that Lamacq calls them "uplifting". He's almost right. The Hornblower Brothers offer us the opposite of escapism - exactly what we need right now.