Mend

The debut album by Scottish indie trio De Rosa (released on the Delgados' Chemikal Underground label, providing instant street cred) opens with a blast of guitar noise that suggests heavy-sledding {post-rock} artsiness to come. But nearly as quickly as it began, the atonal howl of the introduction is replaced by the straightforward, nervy {indie rock} of Father's Eyes. Bursts of abstract noise occasionally pierce the songs, like the Sonic Youth-style howl of feedback that bisects the rattling {post-punk} rant Camera and the out-of-nowhere detuned percussion thwacks and broken-glass sounds at the climax of All Saint's Day. On the whole, however, Mend is at heart a fairly traditional indie guitar album anchored by Martin John Henry's better than average vocals and the solid interplay of the three musicians. Henry resolutely avoids the pained falsetto, a la the Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne, that so many similar bands have turned into an indie clichT; even on the largely acoustic, folk-influenced Hopes and Little Jokes, he stays with an intimate conversational style that helps put across his fairly opaque lyrics. Although not conventionally hooky, the songs imprint themselves after only a couple of listens, making Mend one of the more intriguing U.K. indie debuts of 2006. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide