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Chapel Club

Palace

Written by: TL on 16/02/2011 00:59:02

Chapel Club is the name of a London quintet that has been stirring up quite a bit of buzz lately, but from the sound of their recently released debut LP "Palace", I'm scrambling to label them crudely as merely the classier cousins of Glasvegas - Or that is I would be, if I didn't know any better.

I do however, and as singer Lewis Bowman leads me into dark, moody soundscapes, full of ringing, effect-ladden guitars, I soon find it just as fitting to draw comparisons to the likes of The Twilight Sad and White Lies. Bowman himself however, is likely to account for a considerable amount of the band's appeal, as his cooler-than-thou delivery, and deep, characteristic voice has a kind of quality reminiscent of guys like Matt Berninger (The National) and even Morrissey.

Chapel Club however, are not a band who are cool just by merit of the bands one can compare them to. Rather they are quite cool because not only can they pen a good song - this is made clear as soon as track two, "Surfacing" has wound itself around you with lyrics borrowed from the often re-interpreted "Dream A Little Dream Of Me" - they can also maintain a high level of consistency throughout an album. I make this realisation, as I find myself wrapped in the delicious, buzzing and nocturnal soundscapes of tracks three-through-five, and before coming upon an duo of album highlights in "The Shore" and "Blind".

At this point, this is about my tenth or so listen, and I note that while I've thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the album, there are actually more good moments yet to come in songs I already recognise as "O Maybe I", and chiefly in the brilliant "All The Eastern Girls".

Now, I realize I might be coming off a bit too laid back for you to read from this how much I actually like "Palace". The truth is however, that while I can actually come up with a decent number of bands that already sound similar to Chapel Club, this debut LP of theirs exhibits not only the necessary song-writing talent, but also the necessary coolness and charisma, for me to not worry at all, about them standing out and having success. If it hasn't happened already, don't be surprised if you soon hear someone talking about this as 'brit-rock's next big thing'.

Download: All The Eastern Girls, Blind, Surfacing, The Shore
For The Fans Of: Glasvegas, The Twilight Sad, White Lies, Morrissey
Listen: myspace.com/chapelclub

Release Date 31.01.2011
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