Review: Declan Welsh and the Decadent West

Declan Welsh and the Decadent West were superb, crafted and excel above all their contemporaries. They will either disappear or be global superstars.

They play with passion, adeptness and musical creativity. You can't fail to notice some similarities with the likes of Fontaines DC, The Klaxons and some of Talking Heads earlier work.

Declan sings competently in different octaves, switching between baritone and falsetto. Each musician makes up the whole, without anyone overloading the sound. Declan occasionally drops his Fender playing, leaving the solid bass to maintain the sonic drive, and lead guitarist Duncan McBride fills in with relevant complimentary riffs. The band are enhanced yet further by the fine acoustics of the old church.

Their album: Cheaply Bought, Expensively Sold, duly bought from the merchandise desk.

Graham J. Henderson