The Last Republic, Parade Album Review
The Last Republic kick started their career last year by winning the 2009 Road To V competition to play the main stage at V Festival, then opening for Bon Jovi at London's O2 Arena as a successful result of a Kerrang! Radio competition, and also gained BBC Radio 1 airplay from the likes of Zane Lowe and Huw Stephens. Their debut album, Parade, should see another well-deserved boost to their popularity as a stonking release packed with many an attitude-ridden indie-rock anthem.
Opening with a real kick, 'CCTV' forces strong guitars and drums flanked by synth strings into the void. Its' vocal melody, doubled by piano octaves, showcases seamless transitions between falsetto and chest voice a la Bellamy-meets-Yorke; then its' forceful, driving chorus powers forward frantically hosting something of an energetic, determined, Boy Kill Boy feel. Later, lead single '(C'mon) Flood The Gates' is a catchy, feel-good, energetic pound that reeks of 90's indie-rock greats such as James, The Charlatans, and fellow welshies Manic Street Preachers. 'The City', on the other hand, takes longer to grow from another Bellamy-meets-Yorke-esque anxious, breathy yet vibrato-ridden vocal which is at first accompanied by picked electric guitar and bass before much later building up to a brief post-rock instrumental and then powerful chorus over a bed of soaring guitars, synths and strong, powering drums.
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