[Little Comments] Little Comets – In Search of Elusive Little Comets

Little Comets are an indie-rock band from Sunderland and Newcastle, and this is their first album, In Search of Elusive Little Comets.

The opening track “Adultery” instantly grabs your ears because of the indie-styled-jazz opening lick, while also featuring a chorus that would not sound out of place in any Naked and Famous song, which features so many layers upon layers that it excels the song into another level of raw power and youthful enthusiasm.

The second song One Night In October is probably the song that really defines Little Comets’ sound, extremely catchy and chaotic but controlled just a little bit, it’s so good to hear a record where you have no real idea of what tangents this band are going to take their songs to. It keeps the listening experience fresh and it’s just nice to be able to not concentrate on every sound because there may be slight changes made, the band just crank it up and play these changes loud.

Joanna is not a typical “about a girl” song, the vocals are crazy at the start, but then they sink into place within the vocal harmonisation in the background. This song really does allow Robert Coles to really express his voice at its fullest and they just sound so perfect against the music. Her Black Eyes feature a more subtle, quiet side to Little Comets, opting to use an acoustic guitar to really add emotion to the lyrics, though this is where I feel Coles’ vocals really suffer because they don’t really emphasise on the emotion gained from the music.

The single Isles really kicks the energy back up with a fierce pound of the drums, but it still has some emotion inside, the lyrics don’t need the music to build on it because you are able to hear such words like “Terror on the pavement, panic in the street” which to me sounds like Little Comets are writing about the state of England right now, and how it has changed for the worse as they have grown up.

Tricolour is the song that stands out from the rest because it sounds rather like a ska song, and could feature in a King Blues record, the opening riff is typically ska, but filters out slightly for the rest of the song, but the vocals used really proves the influence from the sound of ska.

Closing track Intelligent Animals has a piano as the main instrument throughout it, with some subtle noises swirling around it, and with Robert Coles’ vocals sounding as emotional as they should have been for Her Black Eyes, but this song is so raw, so brilliant, and really ends this record on a rather sweet, poignant high. This record is certainly one of the best for 2011, it starts off very energetic and then filters down into possibly one of the best songs of 2011, Little Comets are certainly a band to keep both eyes on.
[4.5 /5.]