HAL - 'Hal' (Rough trade) Released 25/04/05

Despite its excellent poptastic arrangements and carefully considered tunesmithery HAL have harvested a debut that will undoubtedly be lost amidst this year’s more cleverly packaged and ultimately inferior releases.

The brothers Allen have taken a song-writing formula that The Thrills so pathetically attempted to emulate a few years ago and succeeded with a cascade of classy, acoustic, vocal-driven, toe-tapping tumblers. Here, on their first self-titled long player, we find sheer melodic joy in recent single ‘Play The Hits’, top down, pedal to the metal grooves courtesy of ‘Don’t Come Running’ (think very early Bee Gees) and a feel-good selection of swansong-style ballads – ‘My Eyes Are Sore’ and ‘Worry About The Wind’ to name a few highlights. 

Certainly not cool, far from antagonistic and, just for the record, totally unlike The Bravery, in HAL’s world there are no dark days. With the perpetual ‘crap bit of the 80’s’ epidemic threatening to swallow us whole, these songs are there for the smiling.