Shambolics - Dreams, Schemes & Young Teams 
Release Date: Out Now
Shambolics are new to my withered ears but any gang with enough guts to put out a debut album of 16 tracks with this much energy and quality is alright by me. 'Dreams, Schemes & Young Teams' opens with 'Attention', a track that was written to open an album with its rumbling drums and uplifting melodies fueled by dreams of getting out, moving on and finding a higher purpose. 'Coming For You' is one of the most instantly brilliant tracks I've heard in a long time with punk energy meeting intense indie melodies and rapid fire vocals delivered with pin-point accuracy in among the chaos ensuing all around. It's a blistering start.
The Scottish collective take things down a notch on 'Daily Dosage' which has an acoustic heart supported by the laid-back power of the rest of the band before 'Everything' moves back up through the gears to bring memories of bands like 60ft Dolls, the View or early Stereophonics. 'Fight In Side' feels like a bunch of Scottish lads mashing disco, punk and mariachi together to make something improbably brilliant while 'Filth and Scum' is a surprisingly sweet sounding song with a sharp tongue softened only by the sweeping strings the make this one swell to Elbow-esque proportions. The halfway point is marked by 'Fooling You' which swaggers and sways like Arctic Monkeys at their best but then 'If You Want It' takes things back to the sticky-floored bars with the kind of riff that will surely be optioned for movie soundtracks or car adverts at the very least.
What I love most about this album is that you'd expect there to be a few filler tracks but there is nothing but killer hooks and a flow of energy that is impossible to resist. Take 'Influencer', for instance, a song that could for all the world be an Embrace sized indie swooner but it's a bunch of mates from Scotland putting their hopes and fears into their music and it sounds incredible. Then they switch to something altogether more urban and intense on 'Losing Your Mind' before switching in to party mode on 'Never Be Mine' which is an indie anthem in the making and a nailed on live show favourite.
On 'Schemes' Shambolics have really hit their indie stride on a pumping road-trip of a song before penultimate track 'Tambourine Tam' brings the energy of a lock-in with lazy guitars, laughed vocals and a real sense of camaraderie in the wee small hours. The whole party and after party is brought to a head on 'Universal Credit' which swings from intimate and brooding to Beatles-esque sing-a-long melodies. This is a genuinely brilliant debut and a fantastic album from one hell of an exciting band. Get involved.
More information: https://twitter.com/shambolicsmusic