They've only just released their debut album, but Bolton-based band Cherry Ghost - a loose collective of musicians led by singer/songwriter Simon Aldred - have already made quite an impression on both the media and the record-buying public, with Thirst For Romance claiming an impressive #7 slot in the UK album charts in its first week of release. Signed to London-based indie label Heavenly Records, the essence of Thirst for Romance - and indeed Cherry Ghost themselves - can be discerned by their name (taken from Wilco song Theologians) and their album title (a dead giveaway for slushy sentimentality and slow-burning paeans). Though they peg themselves as alt-country rockers, with Aldred himself describing their sound as 'Willie Nelson meets Walt Disney', Cherry Ghost don't limit themselves to one genre here; in fact, it's almost as if the album is divided into quarters. The opening tracks seem influenced by Liverpool bands The Coral and The Zutons, the title track infused with the former's fuzzy retro swing and Mountain Bird with the latter's waggish Scally charm, while Aldred's resonant vocals are at times very similar to Echo and the Bunnymen's Ian McCulloch. The healthy dollop of Americana that kicks proceedings off then gives way to a series of bland, piano-saturated anthemesque ballads (Roses, People Help the People), while the gospel-tinged False Alarm ushers in a cycle of lush, string-laden melodic tracks that Gary Lightbody would chew his right arm off for. The upbeat, Beatles-style '60s pop of Alfred the Great and the bluesy-rock of the catchy Here Come the Romans steer the album off course yet again, but by the time expansive closer Mathematics rolls around, it's questionable whether the constant mutations are a good thing or not. Cherry Ghost are certainly at their best when leaving the bland ballads behind, but something tells me that although they may be a Snow Patrol-without-the-tedium right now, they'll be plying their trade in a stadium before you know it.
