267) For Against - Coalesced

For Against, what do I know about them, a big fat nothing.

I was out for my usual evening walk and stuck this on as I walked about the metropolis that is Motherwell.

On first listen I assumed they were part of the Manchester scene, fans of Joy Division or been part of the UK’s mid-eighties indie scene so was surprised I’d never heard of them.

I may start just putting these words in every review, but I was wrong. They did form in the early eighties but are from Nebraska, still going but nothing has been heard of them since their 2009 album Never Been.

Medication opens with a strummed electric guitar and then a steady beat (solid drums throughout this record from Paul Engelhard especially on Fuel) as lead singer Jeffrey Runnings (occasionally I’m hearing Tim Burgess in his vocals) pleasant vocals draw you in and So Long the band all kick into a groove with just the perfect amount of melody and hooks.

The title track builds like The Stone Roses at their finest, seven minutes of peaks and troughs, jangly pop with an edge and guitarist Steven Hinrich matches his two colleagues with his playing. Outside a Heart has a chorus that will lodge in your head. There’s not a lot of variation here but these are seven prime tracks of guitar pop ending with the beautiful ballad of Shelflife and the instrumental Love You

If you like Ride, Lush, Stone Roses, Charlatans, or any Factory guitar act then this is for you, but they are not pale imitations of any of these acts they should rightly be lauded for their own songs and sound. Another record I would never have heard if I had not started this, records like this make me glad I did.

 7.5/10

GIVE IT A STREAM: Coalesced