The Heights: Toys and Kings
The Heights album is fairly repetitive
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Monday, 18, Jun 2007 05:32
Channel Fly Recordings, out June 18th.
In a nutshell
Don't. Bother.
What's it all about?
The sound is very much pop/rock/indie/electro. Think Bloc party, Stereophonics, Blink 182, Kings of Leon, Foo Fighters, Blue Oyster Cult, The Strokes, The Killers.in fact any band that has a 'the' in front of their name. Expect a menagerie of sounds, with repetitive choruses and familiar tunes.
Who's it by?
This is the first album from the band of four hailing from the tiny Llanberis in Gwynedd. The Welsh rockers seem to be making waves with their combination of slick tunes, husky vocals and catchy choruses.
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
The Heights are an accessible and easy to listen to band which, with the right publicity, should do quite well. As for a Grammy? There's nothing to separate them from a pub band so let us say no.
So is it any good?
Basically, I don't have enough time to tell you what's wrong with The Heights. Everything about them is unoriginal, from their repetitive choruses and contrived lyrics, right down to their perfect post-grunge shaggy hair-dos and songs about London and New York.
The lyrics are 'catchy' because they are repeated so much you can't help but remember them and it's a pity that Owain Ginberg's vocals don't do much more for the band. Had he better lyrics to work with things would have be greatly improved. Only the song Sweet Isabelle gives us a taste of what could have been.
The worst thing about The Heights is that they're the type of band that reminds you of other bands, with every song sounding like something you've heard before. The result is that you end up wishing you were listening to something else. Don't bother with them and do just that.
2.5/10
Louise Cadell