ALBUM REVIEW: Eagulls ‘Eagulls’

If an eagull was a real bird, it would be an embodiment of predatory winged fury, which is what Eagulls endeavour to be. Their self-titled debut album delivers a solid dose of this, but not one that will last long enough to keep you bouncing off the walls. The frustration they pump into their music risks being hurled right back at them as anticipating fans find themselves let down by a lacklustre first full-length outing from the Leeds boys.

‘Eagulls’ bolts out of the starting blocks with the sinister ‘Nerve Endings’, released as a single last year and winner of an NME Award for its ‘unconventional’ video.  So far, so good… ‘Hollow Visions’ and ‘Yellow Eyes’ follow in a similar style with their repetitive, yet mildly grating choruses and solid, yet irritatingly generic drum beats. In fact, it’s not until the album’s midway point ‘Amber Veins’ that we experience an unheard side to Eagulls. Well, for a few seconds until the track descends into the same old drum-heavy nature and incessant yelling of the same two words.

But, my, how they break the mould with the next song: ‘Possessed’ harks back to the upbeat – used comparatively where Eagulls are concerned – days of the band’s 2012 EP, also self-titled. It offers some refreshing respite from the indifference the album has offered so far, but its undeniable likeness to that very EP’s standout ‘Moulting’ says a lot about Eagulls as a band; they are copycats of their own selves. ‘I don’t want to know you because I’m something else! I’m possessed’ hollers frontman George Mitchell. He must be; six tracks in and this is as close the album has come to thrilling.

 

Track seven ‘Footsteps’ manages to deliver just about enough excitement to keep you from whacking the pause button out of disgruntlement. It may trundle along with the same smoggy air of doom, yet the lads sound re-energised and eager to prove the point that there’s much more to them than the drab noise that has invaded our ears for the most part so far.

As the five-piece’s racket hastily gathers pace, the album becomes an altogether more gratifying affair – briefly, at least. The immensely enjoyable ‘Opaque’ may as well be the final act with its semi-calypso guitar work and fiercely impassioned backing vocals. What a shame many-a-listener will have thrown in the proverbial towel by now; this is a beautifully crafted three minutes of punky fun that everyone deserves to hear. But it doesn’t make up for the largely uninspiring other 34.

Eagulls, you had the potential to blow our minds; why didn’t you?

2.5/5

 

Tom Hancock

Tom Hancock

Tom Hancock

Tom Hancock

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