6/10

Di Di Mau | 22.10.12

 

Camera.Shutter.Life is the debut album from Belfast rockers, A Plastic Rose, and follows the critically acclaimed single Boy Racer. Though decidedly alt-rock, the album is sonically eclectic, with dynamics shifting significantly between tracks. Indeed, the band seems to have carved out a comfortable niche in the space between genres. Standout tracks Indian Sheets and Kids DonÔÇÖt Behave Like This are catchy and lyrically solid, and the albumÔÇÖs production quality is consistently high.

Unfortunately, many of the albumÔÇÖs tracks are unremarkable, and thereÔÇÖs a barely audible sense of restraint that emerges every time something interesting might happen. This undermines the passion holding the album together, but even that eventually falters, with the album losing its way a little towards the end.

The band sounds disturbingly similar to Biffy Clyro (or at least a Tesco Value brand counterpart), which isnÔÇÖt bad so much as it is tiring, and without anything significant with which to differentiate themselves, A Plastic RoseÔÇÖs debut sounds more┬áplastic than it does anything else.┬á However, itÔÇÖs hard to come away from the album without admitting the bandÔÇÖs potential, and with a little more time to grow and meditate on their strengths, A Plastic Rose could establish themselves as something special.

 

Michael O’Connell-Davidson