Miles Kane - Come Closer

Look away fair-weather fans. If you were impressed with that band – you know, the one with the singer out of Arctic Monkeys and some other bloke with all the moody black and white videos and a natty line in knitwear – and have just discovered that Kane is that ‘other bloke’, this might not be for you. For while this retains the same, strong pop sensibility as the Puppets, his solo work so far has mined a very different seam of influences.

Aping the like of T-Rex, ‘Come Closer’ is a dirty, sleazy three minute stomp, driven along by a marching drum beat and bass and interspersed with sporadic, garage rock guitar and a killer solo. It’s more aggressive in tone than first single “Inhaler”, and chugs along so menacingly that it’s fitting the video ends with a punch-up (of sorts). It’s altogether more reminiscent of his work fronting The Rascals, and this channels the same feeling of angry youth and rebellion.

Of course, I’m not naïve enough to think that being the new BFF of Alex Turner hasn’t helped; after all, the Rascals ultimately did little more than bother a few ‘Ones To Watch’ lists, but this is certainly good enough to stand on it’s own, and whether through maturity or watching a master a work, Kanes writing has certainly improved. This is a great start, and with the album due soon, he might just be about to fulfil his promise.