Average rock.
The Heights debut album...well, it's a rock album isn't it? Its got big vocals, there are lyrics about getting out of their heads, there's lyrics above lost and there are slow songs to stop it all being so one-paced. And lets face it, that's enough of a review for some people as there are just too many bands for them all to make an impact and if they don't stand out on first listen, well, there are many more where that came from.
'Help Is On Its Way' slows the tempo down a bit and has that step-along swagger that rock bands like to throw in to act as a mid-balance between their fast numbers and their ballads, in short, its one of the songs where you can make out the lyrics from first listen. Not that the lyrics say anything profound or earth shattering but sometimes its good to get involved with the record more. There is a nice pay-off about lacking patience but that's hardly going to unlock any great secrets.
Then again, is that asking for too much? When a band throws in Led Zep and Lemmy as some of their influences, there's going to be a base quality to it and whilst The Heights add nothing new (even remotely new and by that we mean decades) but hey, is that such a bad thing? Sure 'Jamica Beer Eyes' may have a rough title and a familiarity to its drum-riff and scratchy guitars but theres an energy that carries it along. That's what saves this album, the energy and range of styles being thrown at it – what it lacks in originality its saved for in effort and research!
Theres a real rasping quality to the vocals that gives the impression that one good cough could put The Heights off the road for a good few months or at least change the molecular structure of Owain Ginsberg's delivery. They could go from Oasis style to Keane-light with one tickly throat. And the nod to Oasis may not be that far away as there is a lot to this album that is reminiscent of Noel G favourites Soundtrack Of Our Lives. At their best they were a bombastic rock band where the melodies thundered out and although The Heights don't quite scale those giddy heights (ouch, sorry about that), its certainly the direction they are heading in when they're working well.
A song like 'Kettle Song' is aptly named as it is the musical equivalent of putting on a nice cup of tea or Horlicks before you settle down for an early night, it has a special air to it that can send the listener off to sleep.
And there are just a bit too many moments where that mood prevails on this record to make it a stand-out but its by no means awful.