Concrete Knives
‘Be Your Own King’ (Bella Union)
Recommended Track
Greyhound RacingWith this gleeful debut album, French fivesome Concrete Knives bring all the charm of l’été to the bleak British mid-winter. There’s colour and youth splashed all over these songs: noodly guitars chime with steel drums on ‘Brand New Start’, while the sweet, chanted chorus of ‘Greyhound Racing’ recalls Phoenix and Vampire Weekend. At times it can be a bit round-the-campfire twee, but when they’re doing something as cut-yourself-sharp as ‘Wall Paper’, it’s easy to forgive Concrete Knives for the odd moment of artistic bluntness.
Dannii Leivers
