Led by brothers Rocky and Gordo Whittaker, The Chakras have risen rapidly through the ranks in the last few months. Having not found much success in their native Ireland they decided to up sticks and follow the footsteps of many a band before them to England. It was a bold move but one that has paid off. Their debut album “Build Me A Swan” follows on from their well received single of the same name released last year.
I had heard very mixed reactions before finally deciding to check out The Chakras for myself. Listening through the album for the first time I could understand why, I love them, but I can understand why many don’t. The singing in particular is a bit marmite, you will either love it or hate it, think Brian Molko mixed with Billy Corgan. I think the vocals help them to stand out from other bands out there, the high-pitched and robust vocals add an element of uniqueness that the epic nature of the music is missing. They remind me a lot of early The Verve, with a bit of Jesus and Mary chain thrown in for good measure, soulful and lyrically profound, the influence of both can be heard throughout most of the album.
“Movement” grows slowly and gently into a superbly uplifting song, is anthemic and makes a perfect opening song. It’s followed closely by the delightfully catchy title track which grows into a sky scraping chorus with swirling guitars, It’s my favourite song from the album and I’m sure I won’t be the only one who will have it on repeat for the next few months. “Beautiful Sorrow” weaves incessantly with a mesmerizing, bass-heavy groove, while “Dark horizon” moves away from the albums usual guitar heavy sound to a lighter piano featuring sound. “Slowdive” is a radio friendly long-lost fuzzy ballad, in stark comparison to ‘We The People’ and it’s catchy beats and wailing guitar, definitely one of the stand out tracks from the album.
It’s one very decent first album and definitely worth checking out. I hope they continue to go from strength to strength. They deserve the hype.