Morning Parade

Morning Parade signalled their arrival as a very promising band on the British alternative scene with their critically acclaimed self-titled debut in 2012. Filled with strong guitars and indie brightness, the album left fans desperate to hear more and now their wish has been granted because Morning Parade are back with their sophomore release 'Pure Adulterated Joy'.

Starting off with 'Shake The Cage', the distorted intro tricks you into thinking you're in for something dark and raw, but soon enough it becomes a summery jam with smooth guitar strumming, bright synths and, most importantly, Steve Sparrow's uplifting, American influenced vocals that sound totally joyous. For 'Alienation', the synths take a very upbeat, poppy tone, but the piano and Sparrow's more subtle vocals in the chorus, give a mature feel to it. 'Reality Dream' goes further down this mature pop sound, but it's still bright with the fuzzy synth at the start and guitars with delay effects. 

When it comes to 'Love Thy Neighbour', the album becomes rather sinister with a driving low riff and the opening lyrics, 'The neighbours are at it again, kisses on the lips and knives in the sink, this town is tired of talk' not to mention Sparrow's voice sounding considerably more rocky on this track. The following 'Car Alarms & Sleepless nights' returns to the album's earlier calmness; it's an emotive piano led song, calm until the bombastic bridge with loud riffs and angular guitar effects which you don't see coming.

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Somewhere, at some point, bands seemed to change from doing anything they could to not be mentioned in the same breath as the stadium slaying mega acts. Take Nirvana as an example (no way are Morning Parade being compared to them by the way) but Nirvana knocked back support slots from Guns N Roses and U2 at the turn of the 90s to avoid being considered sell outs.

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