Having played with Johnny Foreigner, Cursive and Dananananaykroyd The Muscle Club’s sound is perhaps inevitable.

Formed in Cardiff 12 months ago, The Muscle Club have produced an accomplished debut in Fragmented Ideas From Young Lungs. A record that proves combining the raw fury of Johnny Foreigner with the pop hooks of Los Campesinos! can only be a good thing.

For two seconds opener ‘Damn These Circumstances’ could be a cover of Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’, before spiralling into a wave of distortion peppered and a vocal draped in despair. Whilst ‘Ithaca’ sandwiches harmonics between handclaps seething vocals spat between not-quite-guitar solos and cacophonous percussion. There is a pervading sense of desperation here but one that is punctuated with joy, rather than hopelessness.

‘All For The Kids’ could well be another nod towards Kate Bush, but in all seriousness it’s probably not. Traces of Art Brut’s Eddie Argos creep into the vocals whilst the guitars remain relentlessly poppy.

The Muscle Club are instantly gratifying. There is a familiarity within Fragmented Ideas… their sound but this makes for comfortable, rather than unchallenging listening. This constant conflict between pop and a more angular sound is reminiscent of Idlewild, or at least before they turned into beardy old cunts.

‘Never Read Anything’ is a dumb as fuck celebration of an alternate literacy…“Never read anything but my collection of audiobooks on closer inspection is better than your record collection”. Call and response vocals are delivered over dead-eyed licks, creating a frenetic highlight.

By the time the understated bonus track kicks in, The Muscle Club will have stolen your heart. Frenetic, familiar and bloody good fun, Fragmented Ideas From Young Lungs could well be a late contender for debut of the year. Four sweaty boys with guitars might not tell you much about your life but sometimes you just have to figure it out for yourself. After all, it’s just music…right?

Will Metcalfe