The Birthday Suit - The Eleventh Hour

There was a point, back around the release of ‘100 Broken Windows’, where any sane soul would cry tears of joy in the name of Idlewild. Guitar pop the likes of which arguably hasn’t been bettered since, it may not be the coolest reference point around, but it’s certainly one capable of still stirring passions in the faithful.

Of course, comparing anything to early Idlewild is folly, unless of course it happens to be penned by their guitarist Rod Jones. Echoing the best bits of what he achieved over a decade ago, the first four tracks of the debut album from new project The Birthday Suit brings enough of a new twist to not be a retread of past glories, but packs the same ear for a tune that made the summer of 2000 so utterly brilliant.

Take ‘On My Own’; a track that would sit comfortably alongside anything from his back catalogue, Jones takes to frontman duties like a duck to water. Packed with hooks, pounding bass lines and a vocal that more than stands its own, it may not be reinventing the wheel, but it’s certainly the best damn wheel you’re likely to hear for a long while. Elsewhere opener ‘Do You Ever?’ sees a satisfying crunch juxtaposed by Jacqueline Irvine’s co-vocals on the quietly brilliant ‘Hope Me Home’, complete with its soaring string sections.

That’s not to say The Birthday Suit don’t suffer from the odd misstep - there’s no doubt that ‘The Eleventh Hour’ is stronger when moving at pace, and it’s never travelling quite as fast as in that initial burst. At times, like on the stomping ‘A Nation’, it works brilliantly. At others, such as ‘Don’t Look Down’, it can sound more like a barn dance (though admittedly, a good barn dance). While the less acerbic moments still come across strong, it’s only when the throttle is left open that the goosebumps really start to form.