Sergeant's eponymous debut album sparkles like a new penny and is a welcome sound of summer as autumn turns bitterly to winter. Of course if you missed summer it was a Tuesday in June but this album more than makes up for it, acting as a musical hot water bottle through the dark nights of the year's end. Opening with current single "Sunshine", Sergeant have a swagger reminiscent of The Small Faces and a pop sensibility not seen since the Stones Roses own debut, which is not really surprising considering the involvement of John Leckie as producer.
The band doffs their hats to their musical influences and why shouldn't they? A touch of indie pop, a sprinkle of mod and a generous helping of self-belief help to make this a confident album that stands up against many released this year. It'll certainly be interesting to see and hear them evolve and create their own definitive Sergeant sound over the coming seasons.
You could hang the album on the coat hook marked "jingly-jangly pop" but that really doesn't do it justice. Repeated listening brings out all the subtleties and nuances of a wonderfully-crafted album, which can only bode well for the future. While many young bands peak on their debut and struggle to maintain the spontaneity and energy of their early offerings, Sergeant continue to grow and evolve and it shouldn't be too long before they're troubling the scorers on a national level. Their solid self-titled debut is an excellent platform on which to springboard into the upper echelons of the nation's musical consciousness and life is looking good for Glenrothes' bright young things.
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