The self-titled full-length debut from British alt-rock ensemble
Scars on 45 features the Yorkshire band's distinctive, melodic guitar-based pop. Showcasing the talents of singer/songwriter Danny Bemrose, vocalist Aimee Driver, keyboardist David Nowakowski, bassist Stuart Nichols, and drummer Chris Durling,
Scars on 45 make catchy and heartfelt guitar- and keyboard-based rock with a bit of harmony-laden country-rock à la
Fleetwood Mac peppered in for good measure. It's an inspired sound that helped garner the band a spot on the Grey's Anatomy, Vol. 4 soundtrack. To these ends, we get such immediately catchy tracks as the rootsy adult contemporary-sounding "Warning Sign," the yearning midtempo number "Heart on Fire," and the driving twang-meets-modern rock uplift of "Give Me Something." Elsewhere, Driver helms the poignant ballad "Change My Needs," and the band splits the difference between the passionate alt-rock of
Snow Patrol and the melodic country-pop of
Taylor Swift on "The Way That We Are." Ultimately,
Scars on 45 make mainstream rock music that balances a British sense of pop songcraft with a lyrical sensibility that's as earnest and wide open as the American heartland. ~ Matt Collar