You Dancing?
There are quotes accompanying this release from Northern Irish band Kharma 45 that say they should fit nicely alongside the Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers and Muse, so you'd quite rightly be expecting some kind of hard hitting dance beats with the odd soaring melodies right? Yet on the lead track 'Come On' Kharma 45 sound absolutely nothing like any of those bands.
'Come On' is far more mainstream for a start with not a dance beat on sight, if anything they are more reminiscent of bands like James, featuring a similar distinctive vocal. 'Come On' is quite an uplifting track, definitely falling into the simple yet effective category. It's not bad but what it lacks is any sense of urgency or bite, something all of the bands mentioned earlier have in abundance.
At nearly seven minutes 'Political Soul' (only the b side in the North, each region getting it's own unique track) sounds like a completely different band and hints at where the Chemical Brother comparison may have come from. It quickly veers into club land territory with effect layered vocals and large chunks of repetitive beats. The two tracks on offer are so far apart in styles that it's difficult to know where Kharma 45 are coming from let alone where they are going but they are clearly not afraid to mix it up and do their own thing and for that at least they deserve plaudits.