SixNationState: SixNationState
Thursday, 20 Sep 2007 00:01
SixNationState's album is out on September 24th
Jeepster, out September 24th
In a nutshell…
Pirate punk under festival skies.
What's it all about?
Like a drink-addled gypsy looking for love, Southampton quintet SixNationState's self-titled debut stomps lairily forth from the stereo like the sound of a city in summer.
A broad sweep of musical influences stride confidently across 15 tracks of lyrically-challenged pirate-punk, with a quick glance through the kaleidoscope revealing telling traces of the Zutons, the Specials, Hard-Fi - and an enormous great chunk of the Coral, albeit with less weed and more lager.
Cossack cries on 'I Hate the Summer', smooth ballad chords on Don't Need You Anymore and what sounds like a thousand beered-up chavs at kicking-out time on Everybody Wants To Be My Friend are all mixed together to create a weirdly drinkable musical cocktail.
Who's it by
The eponymous album SixNationState marks the debut long-playing release from five lads from Southampton, now based in Reading. An EP, also titled SixNationState, was out in 2005, but beyond a few singles and the obligatory bouts of touring in between, little has been seen of the band prior to this, their first proper punt at the big time.
As an example…
"You've got pretty eyes, you've got pretty eyes, / they're green in the summer yes they're green in the summer / with your little white dress, your little white dress / oh yes." - Taking Me Over.
'Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh! Everybody wants to be my friend now" - Everybody Wants To Be My Friend.
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
The album's good and may get picked up for domestic plaudits if it gets lucky. But SixNationState seem to be showing potential here rather than their peak, making this band one to watch and not one to back at the bookies just yet.
What the others say
"A car crash of sounds." Drowned in Sound
"Arguably the most impressive debut album of 2007 so far." - Gigwise
So is it any good?
Although it's fair to say that SixNationState sound more like The Coral than anything else around at the moment, crucially this album features far less of the stories behind the music that characterise the tunes of James Skelly's troop of Scouse stoners. What little lyrical depth there is here generally concerns girls, or else a lack of girls, all written with the poetic flourish of a soaked beer mat.
However, lyrics aren't everything, and like all ramshackle innovators, SixNationState are a rewarding, if often aurally exhausting, listen.
The soundtrack to cross-border dancing or a smoke under festival sunsets, this album sounds like the end of a glorious summer and, maybe, the start of something bigger for a band with a whole lot of promise.
7/10
Alex Coke-Woods
To watch the video for SixNationState's We Could Be Happy,
click here.