Palma Violets. A band championed by NME magazine as the saviours of guitar music after the release of Best Of Friends last year. There’s no arguing with the quality of that particular song, but after seeing them play in Bruxelles last November, there seemed to be a distinct lack of songs equal to the undeniable brilliance of Best Of Friends. ‘180’ then is the band’s chance to make sure that the hype has been justified, and that they are more than just a one-song band.

The album starts with the aforementioned track Best Of Friends, a track bubbling with a ferocious energy that can be barely contained, yet still manages to convey a heartfelt message in the line ‘I wanna be your best friend, I don’t want you to be my girl.’ The rest of the album could easily have been inferior rehashes of this song, but the band do go for a bit of variety. All The Garden Birds is a truly wonderful track, with a fantastic keyboard line in the verse, and a rousing chorus that conveys a morose mood. The chilling ‘oohs’ of the chorus show that when not shouting, lead singer Sam Fryer has a rather impressive voice. Chicken Dippers is another quality track, with a rumbling drum beat during the verse, and an energetic chorus full of shouting and a spiky guitar riff.

The Violet’s charm emerges sporadically throughout the rest of the tunes, usually during the choruses, but there are sections where the songs feel a little bland and unimaginative.   Part of the problem lies with the band’s use of keyboards.  They sound great on Best Of Friends and especially in All The Garden Birds, but at other times they really take the ferocity out of the band’s sound. This is supposedly a guitar band, yet the synths dominate songs like Step Up For The Cool Cats. Here the keys just play two notes throughout most of the song. Just two notes. In this particular song the piercing organ sound is incredibly annoying, and ruins what otherwise might be a decent tune. In other songs, such as 14 the synths’ presence isn’t as noticeable, but they still have the effect of smoothing over the guitar fuzz, and the guitar parts sound weaker for it. Another thing that pulls down the album is the band’s habit of shouting in the background during songs. They come across as very childish and arrogant, especially during Tom The Drum where they actually applaud themselves and say ‘fuckin brilliant.’ It’s not necessary, and perhaps shows the band are trying too hard to capture their formidable live performances on record.

‘180’ is not the masterpiece that the hype would have you believe it would be, but it is certainly a strong first effort. There are songs that border on brilliance and a couple that are genius, and despite being a bit flimsy in places, Palma Violets have put out a solid album.