Indie-structable…
Here we have the debut single for Century Man entitled, ‘Maurauder’, and it doesn’t take a genius to work out the popularity that surrounds this band. If I was to be unkind then I could suggest that this band are an Indie-By-Numbers band mixing in factors of the likes of peers Kasabian, The Enemy and The Automatic, however to understand and engage in a music scene that is already popular is not always a bad thing, and Century Man do it well.
‘Maurauder’ is a quick and pacy slice of Indie that borders on an anthem, and just as with bands like Kasabian, this song has only a slight hook that gradually grips to you becoming better and better with each listen. There are melodic guitars that have an element of fuzz about them without any overpowering riffs, just the way Indie should be.
B-side track, ‘Comedown’ has a slightly more Indie sound in the vein of Kula Shaker meets The Verve, whereas there is a cleaner sound in second B-side track, ‘Mirrors’ that give a nice rock sound. “Are you listening?” vocalist Craig Fish sings, and it is these moments that we should indeed be doing just that.
I’m not a big fan of Indie, I won’t lie to you, Century Man have elements of most of the successful Indie bands out there, but I feel that they do just fall short. That said this is the band’s debut single and it’s all about getting a musical footing and building on that. They could be a band for the future, but I’d put money on success coming after the ‘awkward’ second album, if they get that far.