Bell X1 - 'Flock' (Island) Released 06/02/06

Whilst recording their latest release, Bell X1 claim to have created a shrine to Irish golden boy and old women favourite, Daniel O’Donnell – the album promptly went to number 1 in the Irish pop chart in October 2005. But will this clear example of divine intervention help the Irish four-piece as they release ‘Flock’ throughout the UK?

Aside from the slightly unfortunate slushy love song ‘Just Like Mr Benn’, lead singer Paul Noonan’s lyrics display a depth and intelligence that makes a refreshing change to mindless dribble that you’d expect from a band at number 1 in any country. Clever imagery permeates tracks such as, ‘My First Born For a Song’ ("between the phone calls and text messages the air must be thick with words, but not between us"), whilst the first single from the album, ‘Bigger Than Me’ displays a curt sharpness in Noonan’s observations (the line "Maybe it’s seasonally affect disorder …maybe we are just sad" springs to mind).

In places, Bell X1 match this lyrical excellence with exciting musical accompaniment. Some tracks differ immensely in there composition and structure- the opening track, ‘Reach Around’ boasts a high paced drum beat, and resonating guitars which develop into a driving, powerful riff during the chorus; ‘He Said She Said’ alternates between a meandering, hazy, Velvet Underground style blur, and an explosive Radiohead-esque fracas. Elsewhere, subterranean bass lines, and ultrasonically high keyboards in tracks such as 'Flame', combined with beautifully muted choruses/vocals are reminiscent of bands such as Modest Mouse in their laid back tranquillity.   

Unfortunately, however, this musical competence isn’t consistent. In fact, many of the remaining tracks offer nothing more than a good insomnia cure. 'Bad Skin Day' threatens to explode into the same ferocity found elsewhere on the album, but fails to deliver, becoming repetitive and very boring. In ‘Natalie’ the band become a much less imaginative, bog standard indie outfit, sounding like a terrible Starsailor/Keane tribute. But it’s the album closer ‘Lampposts’ that takes the gold medal in tedium, totalling 7 minutes and forty seconds, which seems more like a good half hour.

Although the first few tracks on the album do show a lot of promise, disappointingly, these later monotonous numbers really let ‘Flock’ down, making an otherwise great album a mediocre bore, which could earn it a place right next to Mr. O’Donnell on the Woolworths £1.99 shelf.