Thursday 4 October 2012

The Watchers - Cut The Ribbon

Single review by KevW


In terms of being "ones to watch", North Easterners The Watchers have been ticking all the right boxes and catching the eyes and ears of many of the UK's alternative luminaries. Support slots with The Charlatans, The Chapman Family, Islet, The Vaccines and Clock Opera before you've even released a single? Most bands would bite their own arms off for the experience, the publicity and the kudos that kind of run would generate. They must be doing something right to have landed these gigs in the first place and it's not just other musicians of note that are spotting the potential shown by these guys. Debut single 'Cut The Ribbon' is produced by Danton Supple whose credits include Morrissey, Coldplay, Doves and U2, so people are definitely sensing something could be happening here.

With this particular producer on board it's unlikely that The Watchers are aiming for scratchy, lo-fi, indie cool; it rather suggests that they want their songs to sound impressive and high definition, and they've certainly got the man for the job. Of course you can't polish a turd so they've got to have the tunes to match and as their history suggests they're no slouches in this department. 'Cut The Ribbon' is built of pretty stern stuff: the vocals are strong and sound capable of filling bigger spaces than their local Barfly; guitars reverberate cleanly and sharply and the rhythm section is tight and inch perfect. Any more sheen would take things beyond the line of good taste but as things currently stand this kind of widescreen indie-rock is admirable rather than nauseating and if they can keep on this track (that is closer to Doves than U2) then they could be on to something.



The Watchers' website





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