Admiral Byrd – Goodbye Cruel Worldview

Do we need any more epic, dreamy, shoegaze rock at this point in music history? Probably not, but Admiral Byrd – a four-piece based in Copenhagen, Denmark – insist on their debut Goodbye Cruel Worldview (see what they did there?) that we do. It helps that they are fairly versatile songwriters, offering up styles ranging from the Fuck Buttons-style thudding beats on Every Day is a Picnic at the Zoo, to the Mogwai-esque bass arpeggios and grandiose chorus of Another Mary Cola Hit.

The arrangements show imagination too, with four guest vocalists appearing at various points, generally to lend things a breathy polyphony that recalls – who else – My Bloody Valentine. Unfortunately, the production is too heavily centred on the mid-range, resulting in a rather swampy effect that makes it difficult to detect the nuances of the mix. But if you’re still hungry for a dose of the 'gaze, you could do much worse. [Sam Wiseman]