Tribes / Baby

Tribes
Baby
(Island)
* * * * *

With a sound that falls somewhere between the fuzzy raw guitars of grunge, the glam rock of Mott The Hoople and the shambolic nature of the Libertines, I’ve been a huge fan of Tribes since they first burst onto the scene earlier this summer with their debut ‘We Were Children’ EP.

Not ones to let the grass grow under their shabby converse, since then they’ve released a further two singles and are on the cusp of releasing ‘Baby’, their debut LP. With so much activity in so little time I was a little concerned they might peak too early, so it’s with relief and pleasure that I can report that they’ve hit the target once again with an album full of great tracks.

Tribes specialise in reflective but uplifting anthems that recall better days, and pretty much every one of the eleven tracks here (including all three singles) are guaranteed to get those lighters – or indeed iPhones – waving in the air.

There are too many highlights to list on ‘Baby’, not least ‘Sappho’ (the best of their singles) but unusually for me my favourite track is one of their slower songs, ‘Corner Of An English Field’.