The Last Republic - Parade Album Review

The Last Republic kick started their career last year by winning the 2009 Road To V competition to play the main stage at V Festival, then opening for Bon Jovi at London's O2 Arena as a successful result of a Kerrang! Radio competition, and also gained BBC Radio 1 airplay from the likes of Zane Lowe and Huw Stephens. Their debut album, Parade, should see another well-deserved boost to their popularity as a stonking release packed with many an attitude-ridden indie-rock anthem.

Opening with a real kick, 'CCTV' forces strong guitars and drums flanked by synth strings into the void. Its' vocal melody, doubled by piano octaves, showcases seamless transitions between falsetto and chest voice a la Bellamy-meets-Yorke; then its' forceful, driving chorus powers forward frantically hosting something of an energetic, determined, Boy Kill Boy feel. Later, lead single '(C'mon) Flood The Gates' is a catchy, feel-good, energetic pound that reeks of 90's indie-rock greats such as James, The Charlatans, and fellow welshies Manic Street Preachers. 'The City', on the other hand, takes longer to grow from another Bellamy-meets-Yorke-esque anxious, breathy yet vibrato-ridden vocal which is at first accompanied by picked electric guitar and bass before much later building up to a brief post-rock instrumental and then powerful chorus over a bed of soaring guitars, synths and strong, powering drums.

Towards the album's close, 'Perfect Stranger' grows out of a Muse-meets-Hurts feel piano introduction that eventually begins to pound forward and crash into a chorus with charging, crunchy guitars and two interlocking vocal parts. Similarly, 'Control' lulls one into a false sense of security with Owen's beautiful falsetto soaring over a bed of synth strings before a menacing guitar-laden accompaniment kicks in under frantic megaphone-distorted vocals, and the track pushes into anxious rock, crashing to a close around the six minute mark. Both the title track, 'Parade', and concluding track, 'When The Crows Come Calling', initially showcase a more contrasting mellow and melodic feel and then build into a climax with ringing distorted guitars and military sounding drums to a climax of powerful chorused vocals soaring over busy instrumental noise before dying to a haunting close.

The Last Republic's debut encapsulates a big, ambitious sound that combines a wealth of influences through charging guitar-riff-led indie-rock, mob-like chorused vocals and melodic, anthemic, piano-led brilliance. There are blatant hints of Muse, Radiohead and Interpol amongst their blend, but so too a determined confidence that, especially for a debut, is astounding.

Hannah Spencer