Navvy - Idyll Intangible

The bass grinds against angular guitar and the drums clatter underneath - holding the band together - while Keith Jones rants in a very Mark E. Smith-esque manner. Navvy’s debut sounds like This Nation’s Saving Grace-era Fall - albeit with poppier and more succinct songs. The band are energetic and very tight, stopping and starting as if on a whim, erratic but always under control. Impressively, they combine analogue synths and unusual percussion with 12-string guitars to sound like, well, an indie-rock band. This is due, probably, to a production ethic which often perpetuates an energy rather than focuses on the subtleties of the instrumentation. The result, in the main, is a record that often sounds all too familiar. Although it's a strong debut in derivative terms, Navvy often suffer from an apparent inability to outgrow their influences. More exciting is the prospect of this band's development. [Stephen Toman]