One of the BBC's 'Sound of 2010' poll nominees, Manchester's Delphic are tipped for greatness this year. The quartet may pull in the crowds at festivals this summer, but their unoriginal debut is a drab affair.
Being a 'buzz band' is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it raises your profile and forces your music upon those who may otherwise have ignored it. On the other, there's the stigma of being part of a passing trend; let's face it, most 'buzz bands' sink without trace within a year, regardless of how well their debut album may have been received.
Delphic attempt to buck that trend with their debut album 'Acolyte', but their efforts are largely unsuccessful. Ploughing the same indie/dance crossover furrow that Friendly Fires successfully tilled with their 2008 debut, the Mancunian quartet fuse ravey club anthems with their guitar band sensibility, but these songs sound both too long and too dated to be of any consequence.
Their hometown roots will undoubtedly elicit obvious comparisons to Hacienda bands, and it's true that songs like 'Clarion Call' and the repetitive 'Red Lights' would sound at home in the club if it still existed in 2010. Yet dotting their songs with electronica effects and drawn-out vocals becomes tiresome before long, while moody Depeche Mode homage 'Submission' helps matters none, either.
There are one or two moments on 'Acolyte' that suggest Delphic may have enough staying power to make a follow-up; 'Halcyon' is a catchy number that gets to the heart of the matter without unnecessary dawdling, and closing track 'Remain' hints at Royksopp's best moments. Without refining their sound and becoming a hell of a lot more inventive, though, you wonder if we'll get to witness Delphic's development.
