If The Worldonfire had to cite one album as an influence on their sound I’m hazarding at a guess at it being ‘NOW That’s What I Call 90’s Alt Rock’. This is no bad thing though as what the band have served up here, with the short form follow up to the ‘Music To Leadership’ album, is five tracks that hold as equal a billing with the bombast of Biffy Clyro as they do some of the best acts that the 1990s spat out.

Think the staccato riffing of At The Drive In, think the songwriting sensibilities of Mansun and Honeycrack and most definitely think the impassion vocal stylings of Taking Back Sunday in their pomp. As well as the (admittedly) seamless melding of these influences, ‘Trust Someone’ is shot with a foreboding sense of drama that lifts the songs into a nerve tingling territory that wouldn’t have been reached without it.

The drawn out chug of ‘Sway’ is tantalisingly prickly and stirs a welcome hint of Failure into the mix while the off-kilter stabbing of ,‘Slow Speed’ crashes through at pace with a sustained intensity. Sure there’s no ginormous, radio-bothering choruses in here but when you’re attacking your craft with such gusto you can get away without them.

The time is probably about right for the original alternative scene to have an influence on rock again which both excites and ages me in equal measure. If you’re gonna be atop the pile come judgement day you need the balls to keep plugging away though. With a strong DIY ethic and an even stronger commitment to graft and determination The Worldonfire might well find themselves opening a few ears and eyes throughout the rest of 2015.

3.5/5

‘Trust Someone’ by The Worldonfire is out now.

The Worldonfire links: Facebook|Twitter|Tumblr|Bandcamp

Words by Rob Fearnley.