Fang Island - Fang island

When asked to describe their sound, Fang Island respond with, “Everyone high-fiving everyone.” When you also learn that this Brooklyn gang - who are the product of Rhode Island School of Design - are good buddies with Andrew WK, you know that they are all about the fun. To many, this will be as worrying as it is affirming. In music, a little fun goes a very, very long way.

But fear not, this five-piece actually bring something rather worthwhile to the table. Yes, there are big old guitar riffs and solos aplenty but what makes this album different is that, while it would be easy for Fang Island to conform to the rules of rock ‘n’ roll, the structure of its songs is interesting. Verses and choruses are not a given.

While the listener is always kept on their toes as to what is going to happen next, what is for sure is that the album is unapologetically uplifting from start to finish. In its thirty minutes, a trio of guitars harmonise and battle all at once, the drums are clearly there for the sole purpose of being hit as hard as is humanly possible while group vocals are chanted over handclaps with such gusto that it makes The Polyphonic Spree seem introverted.

It’s hard to judge whether Fang Island are super dumb - with their power chords and riffs - or actually really intelligent but with an irrepressibly joyous disposition. The answer probably lies somewhere between the two. Whatever, the important thing is that Fang Island’s infectious exuberance doesn’t feel remotely contrived.