Album Review: Little Green Cars - Absolute Zero

Irish quintet Little Green Cars play that familiar brand of feel-good alternative country rock; think The Lumineers and Mercury Rev. It's a bit of a lame pigeonhole to plonk these guys in though, but with the charming boy-girl coupling of vocalists Stevie Appleby and Faye O'Rourke at the helm, it's easy to pass them over as another Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes or Of Monsters and Men replica. After plodding a quiet but upward course in their native part of the world over the past couple of years, they've nabbed attention with raw sounds and strong, demanding voices, so much so they find themselves on the coveted UK Island label with Mumford and Sons' producer Markus Dravs behind the desk of their debut album, Absolute Zero.

It's a likeable and highly satisfying listen, and ultimately proves the lads and lass have a sizeable bag of goodies to raid beyond their rousing single, The John Wayne, a chugging strummer full of that ever-reliable kitsch factor, the handclap. From opener, Harper Lee, the Appleby as Neil Young comparison has to be made; it's a distinct set of pipes, capable of rejoicing from the rooftops to reining things into a dimly intimate closeness. O'Rourke steps into the spotlight for The Kitchen Floor with a voice refreshingly devoid of that sugary femininity that seems to fuse itself to this kind of sound, and again on the upbeat key-laden Please. Her presence in the group is a godsend; as rich and undoubtedly successful as Appleby's voice would have been on its lonesome, O'Rourke offers another bright facet to turn to amid the pastoral guitar meanderings and sparse beats.