Album Review: Sheppard - Bombs Away

By the time Brisbane's Sheppard – a six-piece in which three members are siblings – release their debut album, it's already spawned a smash hit.

The success of Bombs Away's opener Geronimo came as a surprise to everyone but those who are working with the band and those pop sensibilities are all over this record. Putting aside tracks like Geronimo and Let Me Down Easy, which have become live favourites in the past 18 months, there's plenty here yet to be discovered. The record's production is as polished as their press shots, but this is indie-pop that's fresh and not at all contrived. The most surprising thing to come from initial listens is that Sheppard's best is not always the over-the-top pop bombast, the weary narrative of These People and the groove of This Electric Feeling are as sturdy as anything else here.

At times Bombs Away does fall into the pop trap of trying to tick too many boxes though, the prominent expletives that drive Find Someone's chorus (“So now I'll find someone, who really gives a fuck about me”) feel at odds with nearly everything else and Lingering is forgettable for treading safe passages. But even if the band does endure weaker moments in the second half, closer Halfway To Hell is one of their strongest. The track's urgent pulse and visceral angst is tied together by the melodic chops the band's already convinced us they have, but it flaunts layers and a songwriting nous that isn't always as well presented as it is here.