The summer has definitely arrived here in the UK and there’s no better time to have some open air rock to celebrate the weather with. Here’s where Seabird comes in. With their piano based rock anthems, they fit perfectly into a summer drive with the top down.
Opening with “Love Will Be Enough” the lead vocalist has a voice with presence. There’s a hint on Tom Yorke and a hint of Chris Martin but the combination straddles the two and makes its own sound. The guitars and piano sit side by side in the mix so you don’t lose either when it gets to the big choruses and there’s even room for a euphoric chant too. This deserves to be a smash hit. Radio friendly with depth – perfect. “Pull You In” goes for a lighter view on the bass and makes for a more emotional stance. There’s something very early 90’s U2 about the singular guitar ringing out like a bell over the track itself which is again very catchy. “Please Please Please” reminds me very much of Travis with their anthemic choruses and power chords in the verses. This track in particularly has a chorus that spun around in my head long after the track has finished. Everything is self-assured and in its place.
“Stand Out” takes a foot stomper approach and changes things up from the usual sound. The banjo and the crowd singing really pushes a smile onto your face. I can see the crowd singing along in a gig merrily. What Seabird often do is change-up the beats in the verses and then goes for the jugular in the choruses making them memorable but not samey. “We Can’t Be Friends” is the Radiohead song on the album even down to the chord patterns. It does a very good job as an homage to them even if it’s not meant to be! We then have the mid album ballad with “Something Better Change” the piano and guitar have a gorgeous reverb to them in the verses before everything breaks out for the verses. It’s a welcome change of pace and feel that showcases every instrument at various points in the song. “Love Suicide” returns to the more pop-rock side of Seabird for an excellent three-minute hook that you’ll struggle not to politely mosh to. “Find a Way” swaps out the piano for a warbling electric piano and changes the guitar sounds around it for something a bit more 60’s and more psychedelic especially with the guitars and backing vocals going out of their way to sound wavy.
Title track then bashes out a magnificent piano riff and structures the other instruments around it. There’s something tribal/Adam Ant does Rock about it that really gets my pulse racing – it’s a fantastic track and another one that’d do fantastically in the charts if the world was just. “Golden Skies” starts bringing the album to its end with a piano heavy mid-tempo track before “Extraordinary” gives us a bit of a shuffle ballad that develops and grows into a real lighter/mobile swayer. The closing track “Palmetto Beach” ends with possibly the most downcast track on the album. There’s some excellent piano chops displayed as the stripped back track only has the ivories and vocals. It’s funny because usually with an album you get final hurrah before the cool down and Seabird spend three tracks winding down and it really works when you listen to the album as a whole.
“Troubled Days” is a pitch perfect album. The production is excellent, the tracks almost all immediately catchy without having any cheese in them at all. This is exactly how you should pitch a band with catchy melodies and power chords. This and they, deserve to do extremely well indeed. A new fan – I am coloured.