Hopping Great Tunes
Hailing from Oxford, The Half Rabbits release their debut album ‘From The Horizon To The Map’ which is quite frankly jam packed with just under 37 minutes of alternative / art rock goodness. The two guys / two girls four piece seem to have a the perfect feel to them, all the pieces fit together, especially the male lead vocals combined with the female backing vocals.
Kicking off with the rocking ‘These Rumours’, which starts full paced and just keeps going all the way to the end. One problem with starting with such a great tune it means you have to keep that feel alive for the rest of the 10 tracks, which is certainly not a problem with ‘Of This City’, which if anything gets a tiny bit heavier, especially with the harder guitar riffs and furious drumming. The tracks are not just about being heavy; the vocals are melodic, including the female backing vocals.
‘This Changes Everything’ sees the heavy feel remain but on the slow powerful side. The verses showcase lead singer Michael Wetherburn’s vocals with a little help from Chris Rant’s guitar, before the bass and backing vocals of Alice Watanabe and Sally Pelling’s drums come crashing in.
As with all good albums, there must be some form of variation with the songs to keep the album feeling fresh throughout and with songs like ‘In Vulnerability’ and ‘How Right You Are’ we get exactly that. The latter is certainly a completely different style, with a more dreamy feel to it and yet just as captivating as the rockier tracks, particularly with the intelligent lyrics.
‘Antidote’ and ‘Someone’s Coming’ see the band return to a rockier vein, with a great guitar solo on the chaotic sounding ‘Someone’s Coming’. It is also good to hear a band of this genre not feeling the need to finish an album with the clichéd last song ballad. In fact the finale, ‘Man Down’, is actually a great tune to finish with leaving you wanting more of the same.
The whole of ‘From The Horizon To The Map’ is written and produced with the intelligence and direction of a band with far superior experience than The Half Rabbits. We can only hope that this continues and the future sees much more exciting releases from this exciting band.