polished and mature sound that would take most bands of this elk two or three albums to achieve. The Dave Allen fronted quartet who hail from just outside Dublin possess the clarity of vocals of The Thrills (Conor Deasy), the tingling instrumentals of the Delays and the dash of melancholy of Snow Patrol, as well conjuring up images of all your favourite pre 70s pop bands. ‘Worry About The Wind’ is a neat track that will see more lighters ignited at a gig than in smoker’s corner at workplaces around the UK at 10.45am on a Monday morning. This track whilst being uplifting instrumentally has mournful and worrisome lyrics at times; “I keep on thinking about worrying about that time;
you kept on running out, didn’t count the cost.” The B-side ‘Out Tonight’ will have producers chasing The Thrills out of the studio after recording their next album saying “Excuse me sirs, you forgot this?’, as it is a cousin of Santa Cruz both instrumentally and in the longing and uplifting nature of Allen’s vocals. HAL do not sound as forced as The Thrills, but in this day age it is questionable as to whether this trait is a plus or negative? www.halmusic.com David Adair | 
