Polytechnic - 'Down Til' Dawn' (Shatterproof) Released 23/04/07

Manchester has a musical heritage as big as Frank Sidebottom’s head. Gallagher, Hook, Brown, Squire, Morrissey, Curtis and Marr- a roll call of musical heroes all from the same city. The bands that shape the city’s cultural history also shape the cities new bands as well- every group has a swaggering front man and there is barely a listing page free from either The Other Smiths or The Stone Roses Experience. So how on earth have Manchester’s Polytechnic ended up sounding so damn American?

Not since Joss Stones Brits debacle have we seen a more blatant attempt to sound Trans- Atlantic. Luckily for Polytechnic it works superbly. Taking dashes of American indie both past and present they have crafted an album of laid back lo-fi indie for a new generation. The benchmarks for ‘Down Til’ Dawn’ are obvious- Weezer, Pixies, Sonic Youth et al all figure but Polytechnic rarely sound derivative. ‘Hoof’ is a big pop song that adheres to the quiet/ loud manifesto whilst ‘Rain Check’ shows that the band can do the slow songs and well as their up beat ones. Much of the album follows suit, slow building Americana with a British heart. Acoustic guitars, strings and hushed vocals are evident on many tracks such as ‘Polling Card’, ‘Still Spinning’ and the Belle and Sebastian aping ‘Quay Street’.

It’s all well and good crafting songs for the Prozac fiends amongst us but Polytechnic do a fine line in catchy melodic pop too. ‘Man Overboard’, ‘Won’t You Come Around’ and the previously Transgressive released ‘Pep’ are all superb. ‘Pep’ in particular stands out as the best track on the record, exuberant vocals are sung over sunshine guitars and backing vocals borrowed from Brian Wilsons dreams- it’s a healthy dose of fun in between bouts of introspective meandering.

OK so maybe they have shunned their roots for ventures more sunny but unlike The Thrills or the aforementioned Stone the So-Cal thing works for Polytechnic. If Morrissey can live in LA and Jonny Marr can join Modest Mouse then there is room for more transtlanticism in Manchester.