The Chapman Family - 'Burn Your Town' (PIAS Recordings) Released: 07/03/11

Real-life relatives from Teeside (and quick to point out that they are definitely not a cult), the Chapmans decided to form a band because they were tired of “bands who sounded f*ck-all like anything”. Luckily for us their mission to avoid blandness has resulted in an intense and exciting first LP.

With the deep brooding vocals of frontman Kingsley Chapman, doom-laden power chords and a rumbling, percussion-heavy sound it would be all too easy to lump The Chapman Family in with current indie favourites Chapel Club and White Lies. But debut album 'Burn Your Town' also hints at influences from American 'goth-punk' bands like Alkaline Trio on one hand and the angular, rhythmic post-punk of the late 70s/early 80s on the other.

Lyrically, the Chapman Family have at least three default settings: jaded irony (“I feel like a million dollars/I feel like a million more”), haunted, gothic imagery, and barbed character assaults (“Lets hate everything you do/You are nothing”).  What really stands out though, is their execution which switches between sinister, cult-like chanting on tracks like creepy opener 'A Certain Degree' and choppy, clipped syllables and repetition on 'Kids' that is very close to the vocal style of the Futureheads. 'Kids' seems destined to become a live anthem for disillusioned 'young adults' everywhere with its chorus, which declares defiantly, “The kids are not alright” (file under jaded irony).

Possibly to counter the darkness that the rest of 'Burn Your Town' is shrouded in, the album closes with a surprisingly warm, slow-burning reprise of 2009 single 'Virgins'. Don't hold out for a happy ending though as a hidden track finds Kingsley admitting over sparse, melancholy guitars, “I'll always let you down”. Cheery, no? But whilst the record may lack somewhat in positivity, it more than makes up for this in its emotional depth and avoidance of generic indie clichés.

The Chapman Family are a band that are unafraid to take both the arrangements and subject matter of its songs into increasingly dark places and this makes for a refreshingly original listen.