Radioactive GrandmaIt’s nice, yet all too rare, that an album landing on a desk in Goldenplec Towers (figuratively or course: we have neither a tower nor desks and the albums tend to digital these days) is pleasantly surprising. The Radioactive Grandma’s self-titled début is one of those surprises, which is a relief as it means I only need to make passing reference to how awful the band’s name is. It’s pretty damn awful.

The music however, is a joy from the very first second of opener The Game. An intro-less song is a rather unusual way to kick off an album, so it’s strangely pertinent that “Some part of this makes me feel uneasy” is the first line.

From there, the Cavan based three-piece are up and running. Despite only having three instruments – an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar and a cajon (which is a box you sit on and hit with your hand) – the band create a full sound. This is down to the fantastic three-way harmonies they have developed. The Radioactive Grandma have possibly the best harmonies Ive heard since early Futureheads.

Throughout the album, it’s the acoustic guitar that drives the sound – almost like a form of power-folk – with the electric guitar only serving to add an extra layer to the sound. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this, and the lack of real drums make this a soft album; it is largely played with a staccato punch which keeps it rocking.

Highlight of the album is Another Wasted Line. It sounds like early Bloc Party and is probably good enough to sit comfortably beside anything from ‘Silent Alarm’. The vocals even mirror those of Kele in style at points, especially when lingering on the word ‘lie’ towards the end of the track. Tracks like Robot Song and Not Soon Enough show that the band are not afraid to change it up and throw a slower, more reflective track at listeners.

Perhaps one flaw with this album is that it lacks a real single. Even Another Wasted Line lacks something to garner it regular air-play, but as an album, ‘The Radioactive Grandma’ works extremely well (it even has a ‘hidden track’, although I’m not sure if I’m supposed to mention that!). It is well balanced with light and shade, and with its powerful-without-being-heavy sound, it could conceivably appeal to everybody.

The Radioactive Grandma are certainly a band to keep an eye on and their album here is a quality one, but the name?