The Lafontaines are a Scottish (Motherwell) rock, rap, punk, pop band that have been making a name for themselves recently with their live shows, and for a band that’s less than 4 years old they’ve certainly managed to cram a whole lot in.
After releasing a few singles and EPs they got round to releasing their first full length album on the 8th June. Buoyed by a fairly full tour (although NI was noticeably absent) that culminates at T In The Park soon and an immense fan base both online and IRL they managed to secure #10 in the Scottish album charts and #98 in the UK charts – not bad for an independent band whose main advertising is word of mouth.
The album is full of raucous sing-along choruses, big guitars and bounce-along beats. Kicking off with Slow Elvis a track that will have you wondering if they were just talking about Gary Barlow and cocaine one minute and moshing around the next. Under the Storm brings through some more rap influences, with ‘sound of the police’ seemingly reverbing through the track before giving way to a catchy chorus and a guitar riff that I wouldn’t mind showing up on the new Guitar Hero game once it’s released. The album holds its tone well, with very little disappointment and they firmly establish a definitive The Lafontaines style. Junior Dragon is a great example of this and one that’s been getting a lot of mentions on Twitter and Facebook. Just listen to it, it’s flipping great!
Title track Class and Castles sees the band take on a more reflective nature and lets us hear a softer side of the band, luckily it doesn’t descend into a cheesefest as it could so easily have done – ones for the end of the night me-thinks. King swaggers in like Chuck Norris on steroids and addresses some social issues, but in way that doesn’t get preachy and reveals something new with each listen, this is a more mature track I’d say.
For me, the weakest track is All Gone, it’s just a bit too much with the languishing singing and whilst I enjoy the rapping sections more, never really picks up like the rest of the album. Window Seat picks things back up again and regains the quality that’s kept up with Paper Chase, leaning more on the poppy side but with a nice Summer feel that’s perfect for the coming months. All She knows is one of the stand outs for me out of the slower tracks, with a gorgeous chorus that sounds anthemic and nostalgic.
The album closes on Pull Me Back which at first I wasn’t sure of, I wanted more of the swagger in the latter tracks of the album and I wasn’t getting it, but listening to it a few times, it makes for a great end to the album and has the band talking about what they’ve done, where they are now and what the future holds. It’s genuine and honest and I think that that’s what The Lafontaines are all about, they’re not cookie cutter and they’re not mass produced, they just are and they’re fiercely proud of that.
You can pick up the album on their website here and I have to say I’m giving it a massive two thumbs up, now you just need to get those NI gigs sorted lads!
