Fenech-Soler - Fenech-Soler

British indie guitar music is dead, or so many would have you believe. Barely anyone is interested in doing that kind of thing anymore. We recoil in horror when we think of the sheer amount of bands who have fallen on their own swords because of their failure to progress and adapt.

So, if it is indeed dead, what killed it? The ‘landfill indie’ movement of course. For instance, where are a band like The Pigeon Detectives now? ‘Wait for Me’ was a harmless, energetic debut, but follow-up ‘Emergency’ repeated the same formula, it flopped, and boom - they vanished. Their third record is due out next year, but they would do well to heed this warning: straight-ahead guitar rock doesn’t do it anymore, not when it’s been done a thousand times.

Where are new bands turning to for inspiration these days, then? The answer, at least as we see it, is electronics and euphoric dance rock. We’ve had Delphic, who got their New Order on in fine style with ‘Acolyte’ earlier this year; we’ve had We Have Band, who tipped their collective hat to Talking Heads and OMD to produce an album that married quirkiness with great tunes; and now we’ve got Fenech-Soler, who stand poised to succeed with the release of their debut album.

The record is a powerful opening statement, heavy on invention and melody. The cynics will say ‘oh, this lot are just Delphic with better production’, but the two really aren’t all that similar. The Manchester group traded in cold, clinical electro-pop; by contrast, songs like ‘Stop and Stare’ and ‘Demons’ practically radiate warmth and vibrancy.

There’s a distinct whiff of Klaxons (the good kind) in opener ‘Battlefields’, which relies on imposing drums and squiggly synths, supported by a fine vocal performance from frontman Ben Duffy. ‘The Great Unknown’, meanwhile, gets in touch with French house, driven by tinkling keys and an ethereal vocal hook.

Overall, the record refuses to settle on any one genre; this is far more than just a straight-up electro-pop album, combining enough influences (some of them more obvious, some of them completely unexpected like the Eastern vibes that inform ‘Golden Sun’) to ensure that the Kings Cliffe lads stand out from the pack. ‘Fenech-Soler’ was a while in the making, but it’s proved to be more than worth the wait.