Packed with pop-rock earworms and some occasional punch, the debut album from Swindon quartet All Ears Avow sticks to some reliable tricks.
‘Pop riffs for emo kids’ is the self-proclaimed mission statement from All Ears Avow. If you take their debut album Horrors at face value, it pretty much whacks the nail on the head. Ninety seconds into opener Fighter, you have a rich insight into the universe of the Swindon four-piece, where snappy, pop-laced chorus hooks cut through tension like bouncy castles.
For now, that formula makes perfect sense, especially when bandleader Claire Sutton’s cosmic vocal chords dominate songs with the firepower of Brendon Urie and Hayley Williams. In their own right, there is a distinct British bite to their sound, explaining why The XCERTS, Mallory Knox and 2000trees have all been quick to sign up All Ears Avow for shows since they formed in 2013.
Horrors moves quickly from the jump, firing warning shots at the rat race in Young Horror before the Marmozets-esque riff of Bird On A Wire accelerates proceedings. However, the album isn’t in a rush. There are moments to take stock and reflect – ‘Looking on / Watching how we’re just slipping off the pages’ in Turn The Page (Chapter 2) – and get your groove on, namely the unashamedly Gaga-influenced A Night Like This.
While the album thrives in its pacing, the catchiness does feel forced in some of its riffs – even if they’ll be certified headbangers in the live room. Blossom flirts too closely with Paramore’s You First, and Fire’s hyper-positivity lacks some of the duality that gives the band their multi-faceted edge. Take the catharsis of Sinking, for example, which tiptoes around the pit of doom before diving in head-first at the appropriate moment.
This particular sound runs its course by the end of Horrors, perhaps suggesting that fine-tuning a select few world-beating choruses would help All Ears Avow stand out from the crowd. But if the goal is to inject some feel-good factor into rock music, while externalising the horror show of being alive in 2025, then Horrors can only be considered as a success.
Verdict: 3/5
For fans of: Deaf Havana, Paramore, The Hunna
Horrors is released on October 10 via Western Audio
