If a tree falls in a forest but there's no one around to hear it, does it make a noise? Which came first: the chicken or the egg? And, most bafflingly of all, can someone please explain what it is about The Coronas that has made them so bloody popular? The young Terenure quartet may only have a collective age of 84, but they've got the kind of mass following in Dublin that's usually reserved for boybands, Bono and blokes who've been breaking their boll*xes for years on end. On one hand, though, it's easy to see the (largely student) market that The Coronas appeal to; their music is inoffensive, radio-friendly and sporadically catchy fare - but therein also lies the problem. Heroes and Ghosts is a collection of pedestrian rock songs designed for drivetime radio and/or Matchbox 20 and Black Crowes fans. There are big ballads, catchy riffs and hammy vocals in abundance here (Heroes or Ghosts, San Diego Song and Real World, respectively), which is all well and good if you like that sort of thing, but painfully boring if you don't. Frontman Danny O'Reilly's voice is undeniably strong but it lacks character, ensuring that most of the eleven tracks have the same polished, identical tone. Admittedly, there are one or two cringe-free moments - Filtho's bouncy, Air Traffic-style pop romp being one of them. Overall, however, it sounds like The Coronas - despite their fanbase and the fact that they've the potential to become the next Snore Patrol - have lessons yet to be learned if they're to conquer the more discerning crowd, as well as the easily-pleased.
