Dearist’s debut album ‘This House Has No Windows’ is further proof of the UK’s prowess in anthemic alt-rock. The Wolverhampton-based quartet fit right in alongside the likes Mallory Knox and Young Guns with huge choruses, soaring melodies and driving instrumentals, but with more of an intense emotional angle, that brings to mind US heavyweights Thursday and Jimmy Eat World.
Former Kyoto Drive frontman Adam Binder put the band together in 2014 and his vocals stand out as being the most impressive aspect of the record. His emotional delivery, together with a raw, raspy tone makes for a compelling series of hooks, choruses and sing-along passages, and this gives the record a huge amount of impact. The album’s first single ‘Fix’ demonstrates Binder’s ability to land an anthemic chorus, packed with impressive harmonies and emotional undertones and this standard is consistent across the album’s nine tracks.
Musically, the strong chords and driving rhythms provide the solid backing that the powerful vocals demand, but there’s nothing particularly exciting about the instrumentals to make them memorable. While there are subtle, interesting additions through layers of synth and strings, the tempos of the songs across the record are very similar, giving the entire album a pedestrian feel. Towards the back end of the record, the songs could do with some additional dynamics to shake the record from its consistent tempo and add variation.
’This House Has No Windows’ is a powerful record full of anthems, compelling rock songs and sets Dearist up well among the UK’s growing list of excellent alternative rock acts. More focus on pace changes would inject further excitement into the record, but despite this, their debut album is an excellent introduction to the band and sets them up for a strong future.
3.5/5
‘This House Has No Windows’ by Dearist is out now on Close To Home Records.
Dearist links: Bandcamp|Facebook|Twitter|Soundcloud
Words by Mark Johnson (@Testwood)
