Album Review: Boston Manor - GLUE

Who are these guys and what have they done with Boston Manor? Throwing caution to wind, the British underground pop-punk crew have seemingly beaten themselves to a pulp to establish a sound that, once you listen to it, they’ve been wanting to dabble with since they broke on the scene seven years ago. The furious and wild landscapes Boston Manor create on GLUE are flooring.

Album opener Everything Is Ordinary is anything but. An explosive song of frantic disdain, electronica cascades over furious rhythms and fuzzy falsetto vocals. It prepares you for the rest of the album, as Plasticine Dreams echoes the opening of The Smiths’ How Soon Is Now? combined with the whimsy and boyish charm of Brendon Urie circa 2008. On A High Ledge is a sensual experience of finding yourself nowhere and everywhere.

Fuzzed out multi-layered arrangements aren’t always going to be everyone’s cup of tea and while GLUE will certainly draw in new fans, Boston Manor have really pushed away from creative staples, following their gut feeling to come up with something really cool.

The band is the epitome of improvement – with each release they display progress in all areas, upping the ante in production, musicianship and creative design, only to remain a criminally underrated band. Perhaps GLUE will change this.