Bell X1 - Flock

BELL X1
Flock

In case your finger isn’t as firmly on the pulse of the Irish music scene as it might be, allow me to bring you up to speed with Bell X1. Hugely popular in their native country, the band rose from the flames of a quintet called Juniper after some bloke called Damien Rice departed to go it alone. While the loss of such a talent might have spelt the end for many groups, the quartet is now doing rather well, thanks in no small part to having songs used on The O.C. and Grey’s Anatomy.

Flock, their third record, is a fairly standard indie rock outing which offers plenty of reference points. The upbeat moments, while at times feeling a little anachronistic, are still pleasing enough within their genre and point in the direction of Snow Patrol. A good example of this is the driving guitars of the intriguingly-titled Reacharound or the pretty Rocky Took a Lover. Elsewhere, the more experimental Flame goes a bit Talking Heads, while, very occasionally, singer Paul Noonan’s voice soars with the beautiful ethereality of Thom Yorke. Elsewhere though, Noonan’s vocal does tend to get a little grating.

Flock isn’t especially ground-breaking and at times it feels a little bland, but there are certainly some nice moments, the best of which is delicate album-closer Lamposts. If intelligent, middle of the road indie is your thing and you simply can’t wait for the next Coldplay album to drop, then you’ll find enough here to appease your appetite.