Where most bands – and, indeed, individuals – would no doubt crumble under this kind of pressure, though, Lower Than Atlantis thrived. Their cocksure demeanour aiding in their ‘dirt off your shoulder’ attitude to the naysayers, the band barrelled onwards and upwards. The LTA train may have hit a brick wall with the aforementioned major label debut and subsequently retreated to a home studio for an atypical rest stop, but now they’re back and gunning for the big-time more than ever. Self-titling this record is the band’s strongest statement of intent to date, and it’s worth every second of the wait.

Anyone still waiting for a follow-up to ‘Far Q’ should know where the door is by now. LTA have never been content to retread old ground, and with ‘Lower Than Atlantis’, this mantra is clearer than ever. Electronics glimmer throughout ‘Ain’t No Friend’ and strings bring a regal flair to ‘Criminal’’s musings on the nature of their major label past (“Is it really selling out if we just used them for their funds?” prompts the ever-boisterous frontman Mike Duce). There’s a clear love of all of music’s various facets that echoes throughout the record, and a bloody-minded determination not to be restricted by a scene or image thrust upon them.

The punk or hardcore of LTA days gone by it is not, but ‘Lower Than Atlantis’ is a smorgasbord of perfectionist songwriting, and Duce’s partnership with former Proceed man turned songwriter extraordinaire Dan Lancaster has never been so successful. Duce’s work with acts such as 5 Seconds Of Summer may have been unfairly maligned by the holier-than-thou of the punk world, but its influence feeds an unashamed love of pop into the record’s lighter moments, such as ‘Emily’ – a track reportedly sought after by One Direction’s team after drummer Eddy Thrower lent his sticks to a track on their last record.

The lyrics still tread the fine line between pragmatism and parody, but they sway closer to right side of the fence. While LTA may come across as Duce’s baby more than ever, his step away from the overly autobiographical lyricism of their older work has given the group an increasingly relatable, anthemic edge – most notable in recent single ‘English Kids In America’’s stadium-bothering chorus.

Time away has crafted ‘Lower Than Atlantis’ into the truly world-conquering record the band have always strived for. It’s a collection which finally sees Lower Than Atlantis able to scrutinise their own craft to the extent they’ve always been subject to from others, and as a result they’ve written the most bombastic, anthemic and self-assured record of their career. “I’m not giving up til we’re number one,” smirks Duce on the album’s closing track, and the band have never seemed closer to following contemporaries like Royal Blood all the way to such lofty heights.

TOM CONNICK

Filmed in Orland Park in Illinois, the video sees the song stripped right back to just two guitars and frontman Dan Lambton’s trademark earnest vocals. Check it out below, and read our review of ‘Maybe This Place Is The Same…’ here.

It’s a record that is “unafraid to toy with convention… they celebrate and build upon their influences rather than mirroring them”. Read the full Punktastic review of the record here.

Roaring into life with a whirlwind of high-gain and higher-octane numbers that barely break free of the two-minute mark, it’s a breathtaking opening. But while the untrained ear might be unable to get past the clarity of the group’s influences, behind the straightforward track titles (named simply after the order in which the band have released them) and seemingly impulsive songwriting, ‘Plaids’ is a record that showcases a confidence and experimentalism that suggests the Nottingham quartet are in it for the long haul.

Track six – or, rather, track ‘twenty four’ – is nudged gently into life by an almost jubilantly shimmering, guitar-led intro. It cements itself as a standout at the record’s midpoint, segueing from the jittery, crunching riffs of the earlier tracks into the more pensive ‘twenty five’. From there on out, the record’s flip-side slowly untangles the knots it wove itself into in the preceding ten minutes. More considered than the assault of the opening half, it’s a stylistic change that shows there are far more strings to Plaids’ bow than many who put their name to the genre. Unafraid to toy with convention, they celebrate and build upon their influences rather than mirroring them.

Cramming twelve tracks into just over twenty-five minutes, ‘Plaids’ is a hit-and-run debut that hints at an astronomical future. The swell might be over, but the tide is definitely still rising.

TOM CONNICK

“So you want to listen to more songs? We’ve planted the singles in multiple cities around the country via usb drive. We call them #hazedrops.

There is a song is on the drive, which is located inside/on of an object (brick wall, post, tree, building, what have you). If you decide to seek out the singles, know this:

If you find the drive w/ the song, you’re free to do whatever you want with it. You can listen to it personally, but, if you decide you’d like to post the song on the internet tag it with #americanhaze, #theamericanscene and send us an email (theamericanscene@gmail) letting us know. We’ll cancel whatever scheduled song stream drop we have coming up and direct people to your blog, or whatever you have posted it on, to listen to our new song.”

The first ‘drop’ took place in Oakland CA, Boston MA, Portland OR, and Long Island NY – all of which have now been found. The first #HazeDrop track to be posted was ‘4th and Broadway’, which was hosted on the website of Boston photographer and designer Angelica Abalos, but can now also be streamed via YouTube below. We’ll keep you updated with any future reveals, but in the meantime you can follow the progress of #HazeDrops over on Twitter and see the location of each drop over on the band’s website.

OCTOBER
08 MANCHESTER The Soup Kitchen
09 BRISTOL The Christmas Steps
10 LONDON The Old Blue Last
11 BRIGHTON Prince Albert

The brand new, just-released debut full-length from Real Friends is streaming online over on YouTube. Check out the stream below, and read along with our review of the record.

The band will play alongside Dead Kennedys, Converge, Gorilla Biscuits, and many, many more at the three-day open air event in Ieper, Belgium. Tickets are on sale now.

Written after vocalist and guitarist Dan Barnett broke his back at the tail end of 2012, ‘Rescue’ is not only a record of recovery but also one of reinvention, epitomised through opener ‘Tightrope Walker Complex’’s slow development from a soft harmonic number into a climax of defiantly screamed vocals and gargantuan guitars.

This theme of resilience threads throughout the remaining tracks, but manifests itself in a myriad of different ways. ‘The Moth’ is a metallic, Reuben-esque assault, but nestles itself comfortably alongside ‘Give Me A Place To Stand And I’ll Move The Earth’ – a more delicate and twinkling instrumental offering. A standout comes in the form of ‘I Am Your Density’, a dream-like epic which builds itself around a lolloping bassline and washy cymbal work.

‘Dancing On The Sealion’, a song which has finally solidified its shape after a few shaky initial live airings, is a far superior offering on record; a fragile number which feels set to disintegrate at any moment, but insistently holds its own throughout its numerous tempo changes and jittery drum fills. It is also perhaps the best indicator of the band’s evolution. The new Samoans are an expansive, cinematic outfit, but never once lose sight of their experimentalist past, continuously pushing their boundaries and defying categorisation.

Considered and cathartic, ‘Rescue’ is the record Samoans have always hinted at, and one that should finally free them of their Cardiff confines. As dates with Kids In Glass Houses and No Devotion currently slot into the band’s calendar, their wings are already beginning to spread. Don’t miss their ascent.

TOM CONNICK