The Redwalls - 'De Nova' (Capitol) Released 04/07/05

Fresh off a support slot on the last Oasis tour (which, judging by their photo on the album cover, was only to be expected), The Redwalls are a much better band than you'd believe they should be. Even though they veer into Vines territory at times - most notably during opener, 'Robinson Crusoe' - their debut for Capitol is a solid, if at times contrived, album. Hailing from Deerfield, Illinois - Is that near Haddenfield? Hmm... - the fact they sound incredibly British could be down to the fact they started out as a British-song cover band back in 2001.

Imagine some kind of pot consisting of a bubbling broth. Now, look closer into the broth (but watch for the steam, ouch) and you'll see The Vines, The Beatles, Menswear, The Kinks and The Coral jostling with the vegetable stock. Looks lovely, yes? Well, if you could turn a band into soup, that country vegetable flavour would be The Redwalls...yummy. 'Falling Down' is the second song on the album, and one of the best. Stacatto guitar and drums rumble under a rambling vocal, expletive laden verses compete with a lovely Wilco-esque chorus. It's a winning combination that follows on throughout 'Thank You' and the urgent 'Love Her'.

'Hung Up On The Way I'm Feeling' could be a close relation to The Beatles 'Something', it's whimsical vocals and flowing guitar occupy the same space, similarly 'It's Alright' has the same structure that many of The Beatles earlier songs utilise. It's very rock and roll, but unlike a myriad of bands, this works. It's hard to say why, but it does. The album rocks and it flows. Nicely. The percussion and guitar is tight all the way through, and coupled with excellent vocals, it brings it all together in a package hard to resist. The only trouble with the album is a pretty similar story to 9 out of 10 albums; it does tail off toward the end. But, when you think about it, only the truly great albums are magnificent throughout. 'Front Page' starts off well, a combination of helicopters and TV new's reports meld into a long, and somewhat dull song, and 'How The Story Goes' feels sludgy and slow. Luckily for us, 'Rock n Roll' saves the album, literally! Closing the album as it began, with a magnificent blast of 60's British rock and roll, it's befitting ending to a good - but not great - album.