The Epochs – The Epochs

Listening to The Epochs eponymously-titled debut is akin to waking-up still drunk from the night before. Although it starts breezily enough (with the stompy ‘Thunder and Lightning’), there’s a hangover approaching at a rate of knots.

I want to like it (for reasons I’ve failed to determine) and, trust me, I’ve listened often enough to give myself a shot. But there’s something about this fusion of disco, electronica, white-boy soul and lightweight pop which just serves to aggravate rather than entice. It’s all very fey and very knowing and ultimately annoying and unfulfilling (interestingly, as I type this up, I realise that I could write exactly those words if I’d been asked to describe Mika, which is perhaps revealing).

There are good bits – ‘Thunder and Lightning’ I’ve covered. ‘Love Complete’ is a genuinely melodic pop-song and ‘Mouths To Feed’ is enjoyably Hot Chippy. But such highlights are few and insubstantial when compared to what else is going on here. ‘Mister Fog’ and ‘Picture Of The Sun’ are the most infuriating, not least because one of the vocalists seems to be impersonating the guy from Maroon 5, but not the only poor songs on show. Too often The Epochs layer one idea or sound on top of another in the hope, I presume, of producing something interesting. Far too often it just ends up a mess.

Top Tracks: ‘Thunder And Lightning’, ‘Love Complete’.

Released 19/02/08 on Rebel Group Records