It may seem a little harsh to say, but sometimes reviewing new upcoming bands on their earliest releases can be a slightly onerous business. There are so many bands hurriedly rushing out material and clamouring for writers’ attention, before they or their music is ready for it, that it can be hard to be enthusiastic about every previously unheralded release that finds its way into your inbox. Fortunately, there are bands like Dundee’s Copper Lungs out there. Cunningly waiting to stop unsuspecting critics dead in their tracks, make them say something along the lines of “hello, hello, hello, what have we hear then” in the style of a badly caricatured policeman, and then come back for another listen, and another, and many more after that.

Such is the quality of the band’s new self-titled EP that as soon as you hit play, you best live with the fact that you’re unlikely to be listening to anything else for quite some time. Packing big angular riffs, and even bigger impassioned, emphatically delivered choruses, there hasn’t been a new pop-rock act break out of Scotland that are this good since Twin Atlantic, seemingly overnight, became most of Britain’s favourite band a few years back.

Its refreshing that Copper Lungs have opted to choose quality over quantity, making all six tracks here as great as they could be, rather than recording a second full length, all killer, no filler definitely being the order of the day here. Although lead single ‘Lost Without You’ is the pick of an excellent bunch, every track on offer could potentially be single material.

There is a well-judged mix of immediately accessible foot-stomping, arm-waving up-tempo out and out rockers (‘Lego’ and ‘How Long’) and beautifully swelling slowburning numbers (‘Lost Without You’ and ‘Feeling That Feeling’) allowing Copper Lungs to show they can pull off brooding and delicate just as well as they do swaggering euphoric rock.

It can’t really be underplayed just how much promise Copper Lungs have shown on this EP, overnight megastars it may not make them, but with material this good they surely have to be Scottish rock’s best kept secret. The real test will be creating a live show and a full length that matches the special nature of these six tracks. Now off you go and listen to Copper Lungs for yourself, good luck tearing yourself away though.

5/5

‘Copper Lungs’ by Copper Lungs is out now on Thin Hippo Records.

Copper Lungs links: Website|Facebook|Twitter

Words by Dane Wright (@MrDaneWright)