If you spend any amount of time listening to Radio 1 or reading the NME nowadays you’ll be lead to believe that we’re knee deep in new, exciting bands. However the reality is completely different – we’re knee deep in shit and it’s beginning to smell quite badly. Thank God then that every now and again a band comes along that can slip a peg over your nose and stave of the stink for a while.

Friendly Fires are one such band. The trio from St. Albans have been messing with their instruments together since the onset of puberty (fnar, fnar!) and have managed to find a sound which sets them apart from the rest on the twat rock on the airwaves nowadays. Okay, the fusion of rock, pop and disco isn’t entirely new but Friendly Fires manage to hold your attention for longer than a New York minute.

The percussion laden Jump In The Pool beats life in the album. It’s an atmospheric start; the low key, 80’s inspired verse I punctuated by the chant-like chorus. The whispered melodic vocals give way towards the end so that the fast paced Caribbean drums can build to a crescendo.

“Paris” manages to squeeze more tropical beats in and puts them side by side with the vocals from a bunch white lads from Hertfordshire. It works brilliantly, as does the mountainous structure to the track. It’s a keeper, and as the final ascent is made before the track slowly fades out you begin to realise why it’s the lead single off the album.

“Lovesick” is a fantastic pop tune which allows them to throw a cursory nod the way of Prince, one of the band’s self confessed inspirations. It’s a charming pop tune that may sound quite thin musically on first listen but grows on you more as you go back to it. It doesn’t bombard your ear drums with pointless pieces of electronic noodling or unneeded riffs – it’s a simple disco-pop tune.

“Photobooth” is another track which has the shadow of another band hanging over it. The New Wave scene and Talking Head in particular never seem too far away from the minds of the lads from St. Albans during this. Ed Macfarlane’s vocals are a bit on the David Byrne side in places and a lot on the David Byrne side in others. Blatant rip offs aside it’s a great track.

I know I’ve heaped praise at the feet of this album but it’s not entirely perfect and there are a couple of problems with it. Firstly, there isn’t much variety musically – after the first few tracks you know what you’re getting. Secondly, at 37 minutes it’s far too short. If, as the band claim, it took them two years to create I’m bemused as to what they were doing for 18 months of it. If I had to pay for it (which I don’t, because I’m a reviewer. Ha.) I’d feel short changed. Still, these are minor issues. We should be thankful for bands like Friendly Fires who are just different enough to prove not everything new is complete toss.