Basement: Promise Everything

Following on from Colourmeinkindness, Promise Everything contains all the ingredients that make a Basement album a cult success: concise song structures, memorable melodies and rhythms that funnel each instrument into an unavoidable punk rock bop. There is no doubt this is the band’s most mature studio sound to date. The production screams ‘radio-friendly’ – moving away from the grit and angst of Colourmeinkindness and the subsequent EP Further Sky, Promise Everything instead opts for a more clean-cut sound. But big chords and vanilla song structures can only go so far, and too often tracks drift into the middle of the road.

While Promise Everything meets the grade with its solid collection of songs and standout production, it spends a lot of time in generic radio rock land. With the band’s edge capped and safeguarded, the recordstands as a solid rock album; no more, no less.

If you find yourself housebound with a comedown to rival Pete Doherty’s typical Wednesday morning, then Promise Everything might be the soundtrack for you.