Unrelenting pop-rock album out April 10th on Thriller Records.
For those of you old enough, and English enough, to be aware of the sitcom Only Fools and Horses, Broadside very much bring to mind Trigger and his broom. The broom in question has had 17 new heads and 14 new handles. Despite the comedy it leaves you with the existential question of whether it is the same broom or not. I raise this as Broadside were founded in 2010 but had not a single original member left by 2015, an unusual position for a rock band to find itself in. Plenty of rock bands have had fallings out, working relationships that became untenable, members that were sacked for various dodgy activity – but no original members? In their defence the line-up has been very solidified since 2018 and with that solidity they have released several albums and made commercial inroads in the United States. They are less well known over here but one thinks that is likely to change if they continue to release such overwhelmingly commercial guitar music.
If you went into listening to this album with a dark cloud hanging over you I defy you not to feel cheerier by the end of it. This is overwhelmingly positive pop-rock, a hint of The Killers synth enhanced mainstream rock, Oliver Baxxter carries the songs with a hugely tuneful voice. This is a thoroughly modern sounding album and is very on trend with the more commercial and chart friendly edge of rock. Whilst familiar, it is a far less alt-rock/skate-punk outcome than their earlier efforts used to sound.
You can sense the confidence in the end product as six of the twelve tracks have been released as singles in the run-up and each of those singles is very listenable. There are some gems among the unreleased tracks as well, ‘Dead Roses’ really jumps out on just a couple of listens. Overall, this is a lot of fun.
Essential Tracks: ‘Warning Signs,’ ‘Dead Roses – Stand Up To Myself,’ ‘I Think They Know’ and ‘Blissed Out.’
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