Static Fires - 'Thirteen' Album Review

Tracklist:

1. Rollercoaster

2. Black Velvet

3. Hit The Gas

4. Retur

5. Like The Sun

6. Thirteen

7. Blood Red

8. Fix Myself

Having released their eponymous EP in 2016, Static Fires follow up with their debut album, 'Thirteen', taking their Alt-Rock style to a new level. Scheduled for release on August 10th, this album provides a solid foundation for the promising young band.

Having spent 2017 playing plenty of live shows in and around their hometown of Swansea, the 4-piece are now hoping to build up some more momentum with the release of this 8-track album. These tracks mark a significant step up in quality from their debut release, with some great song writing and much better production than their 2016 material. The vocals, in particular, have really stepped up on this record. Where previously tracks had clean singing, lead vocalist Sam Randles has developed a gravelly style to his voice that makes everything feel a lot more powerful.

The middle section showcases the best tracks of the album with lead single 'Return', 'Like The Sun' and title track, 'Thirteen'. 'Like The Sun' stands out from the rest of the album as a catchy summer anthem reminiscent of Catfish & the Bottlemen whilst 'Thirteen' features what is easily the most entertaining lyric of the whole album: “I can’t run from my problems, but I can run from you.” This trio all have their own individual styles and show off how varied Static Fire’s song writing can be – the fact that they can create great songs across a good range of styles is an encouraging sign.

Although it showcases some great songs, the album struggles to get a flow going. Many of the tracks feel too long, with unnecessary intros and outros that sound out of place – especially the introduction to 'Return', which risks losing the listener’s attention before it picks up to an otherwise awesome song. Making the tracks more concise and adding 2 or 3 more songs could quickly improve the album’s quality.

The band may have jumped a bit too early to release a full-length album, but the tracks themselves show that they have huge potential.