Words: Gareth O’Malley

Those people that said imitation was the lowest form of flattery were absolutely spot-on. It’s not particularly acceptible in music, but there are bands who can tip the hat to their influences in a masterful fashion whilst not being in thrall to them.

Lyrebirds are one such band. The composite parts of their sound are rather easy to figure out. Oh hey! Singer with a deep voice! Cue Interpol/Editors/Joy Division comparison. They have stadium-sized ambitions too! I’m going to stop now, because, to be honest, when an EP like this comes along in which the music speaks for itself, the best thing is to shut up and listen.

Believe me, you’ll want to do just that once the jagged opening riff of ‘Now I Know Why’ gets the EP going. These four songs are packed to the brim with melody, showing that the Brighton quintet have serious songwriting skills. The sinister-sounding spaghetti-western vibe that runs through ‘Shadow Boxer’ builds just the right amount of tension before the track is let loose with another crunching riff, and frontman Adam Day promising he will ‘walk through the fire and the rain just to be there’.

The EP’s rounded off with ‘What A Beautiful Way’, a slow-burning torch song that encapsulates the band’s potential better than anything else on offer. They’ll find their own sound in due course; that’s the way bands like this work after all. The foundations have been laid for them with ‘Blondehead’ - and no-one can say it’s not a good place to start.

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