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If you take a group of twenty something's from the city of Angels, LA and the less glamorous Hull, let them cause havoc in New York City, what do you get? Skaters. NYC is the conceiver of cool, especially when it comes to music, it's the place that created punk, inspired hip hop and saved guitar music, a generation on from The Strokes and there's some new kids on the block, all fighting to be number one and this Anglo-American quartet are the front-runners.
Just to emphasise their love of the city they now call home, the band have named their debut record Manhattan, which documents being young in the US city where influences come as vast as the culture. Opener 'One Of Us' is packed with energy, the intensity continues through recent singles 'Miss Teen Massachusetts' and 'Deadbolt' until laid back ska vibes come into the mix with 'Band Breaker'.
The collective came together at the beginning of 2012 after seeing their noughties indie outfits fade away, clearly not disheartened by the past, they have learnt from the mistakes and put their experiences into Manhattan. 'To Be Young' tells tales of late night shenanigans rubbing up against dirty guitars whilst 'Schemers', the bands very first single is given a face lift and 'Symptomatic' is a hidden gem with twists and turns, breaking hearts on every syllable.
Swooning anthem 'I Wanna Dance' will getting you singing (and dancing) with its infectious chorus and the chaotic 'Nice Hat' is simply irresistible as it pays tribute to the sixties New York punk scene. The album concludes with 'This Much I Care' which is what you would have hoped that The Strokes would sound like in 2014.
Skaters might not be reinventing the wheel but they are putting fresh spokes into guitar music. Hopefully this record will go huge just to make Googling 'Skaters' a lot easier, 'Skaters Manhattan' is just as tricky! This is the modern age.
