Album Review: Orphan Boy – Passion, Pain and Loyalty
3 min read
Cleethorpes indie trio, Orphan Boy, have recently released their new single Popsong which provided us with a catchy and melodic teaser into what’s in store with the bands latest album, Passion, Pain and Loyalty which saw its release this week.
Popsong is a great release for the fairly newbie band and the parent record is a follow up to the rhythmic rhymings of the enthusiastic trio’s 2008 debut, Shop Local. This time around they do it bigger and better with Passion, Pain and Loyalty a worthwhile and ambitious release with a more mainstream feel.
With a progressive church organ intro, Letter For Annie lifts off into an enigmatic pop track well equipped with an infectious and stimulating beat and atmospheric reverberation, much to the same vein as Temper Trap and The Verve. It’s the perfect uptempo introduction to the record.
The records first single Popsong is one of the obvious highlights on the collection and a clear choice for lead single with its almost 90’s Brit-pop feel.
Remember is another standout on the album with its meaty bass lines and quirky guitar riffs bringing alight a melody that backs an exuberant sing along addition for the band.
Some Frontier is an anthemic shout out providing a mosh pit crasher for the record.
The piano heavy 1989 gives the album a youthful kick and the title makes anyone over 25 feel instantly old but the track keeps you on par with these sprightly lads with one of the more meticulously written and structured numbers on Pain, Passion and Loyalty.
With a harmonica intro the years of INXS come flooding back to the memory gates on the track Anderson Shelter Blues. Just when the lyrics of Taste It are on the tip of your tongue the beat changes with the take over of a tribal drum and echoed vocals reverberating over a pulsating base line.
Passion, Pain and Loyalty is a record that is fresh on the ears for every lover of pop infused indie. A lot of guitars, stylistically thumping drum rolls, some pretty impressive bass heavy additions and some hollering raw vocals laid over witty songwriting to create a collection of alternative radio friendly tracks.
Passion, Pain and Loyalty is a record for Orphan Boy that is as good as indie debuts come. It’s packed with fantastic sing along numbers and a nice balance of crashing uptempo numbers and gentle mellow additions to smooth it out.
With a lot of tracks on Passion, Pain and Loyalty that could be chosen as singles, these lads have a good supply of tracks that will prompt them into the indie world radar in no time.
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