Adam Franklin & Bolts of Melody – I Could Sleep for a Thousand Years

Having started his career back in ’84 with Shake Appeal – who would ultimately morph in to UK ‘shoegrunge’ stalwarts Swervedriver – Adam Franklin has been plying his wares in one form or another for almost thirty years now. But it’s only in the last decade that he’s evolved in to a self-assured solo artist, writing under the Toshack Highway and Magnetic Morning (alongside Interpol's Sam Fogarino) guises, and more recently as Adam Franklin & Bolts of Melody, with 2010 seeing the release of his third formal LP under this latest moniker.

For Franklin, I Could Sleep for a Thousand Years provides a further trophy to place on the mantle, as he steps out with the masterfully wistful pop and granular guitars of opener Yesterday has Gone Forever, following up with a superlatively subtle nod to Sonic Youth’s Dirty-era stylings through I’ll Be Yr Mechanic. Beyond these bold steps, I Could Sleep… barely falters, and ultimately delivers a sufficiently heavyweight blow from such a seasoned veteran. [Paul Neeson]