There is a scene from Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can when Christopher Walken’s character, Frank Abagnale, performs a speech about a mouse who falls into a bucket full of milk. Rather than die he keeps swimming until the milk turns into cheese and then the mouse jumps out. Determination is what The Boxer Rebellion are all about; they have been together for more than a decade and, without ever becoming a household name, they release critically-acclaimed albums that compare them to Radiohead, Coldplay and U2, but without the payload. Will their drive finally lead to some more success with their fifth album, Ocean By Ocean?

The record starts off with a bang – ‘Weapons’ and ‘Big Ideas’ are the typical tracks that other artists would find being play-listed on Radio X and BBC 6Music for weeks on end. The former has a beautiful chorus whilst the later is one of the group’s finest singles to date, though rather reminiscent of The Temper Trap’s ‘Sweet Disposition’. Throughout the record there are many opportunities for Nathan’s Nicholson’s falsetto to add texture to the lighter tracks, that could almost compare them to Talk Talk in their later years They are at their most triumphant, though, when they focus on the guitars, like on ‘Firework’, and strip back the electronic production that bogs down the record at times like on ‘Keep Me Close’ and album closer ‘Let it Go’. ‘Pull Yourself Together’ is the contrary; Here the synths and gentle guitar-work to create a tranquil beauty that melts into Nicholson’s vocal melody. The album just falls short of being as strong as their previous work on Promises.

This is an engaging album of ten tracks, with the sort of lush production that has to be listened to in one entire sitting to reap the rewards. They do wear their influences on their sleeves a little too much at times and afficionados can enjoy ticking off where they found their inspiration for each track. But this isn’t a tribute album, The Boxer Rebellion cleverly use their record collection to a create a genuine album that will delight many fans of wide-screen indie music. Though sadly the album could do with a few more singles that live up to the magic of ‘Big Ideas’ if they are ever going to break out of the small time. One thing is certain, they won’t give up until they do.

Ocean By Ocean is released on 29th April via Almighty Music.

Fran Jackson