(Ivy League Records / Mushroom Music)

A positively radiant rock collective

Sydney six-piece The City Lights are comprised of several noteworthy rockers, including members from Rocket Science, Youth Group and Peabody. On El Sol, their second album, they’ve come up with a fine collection of surf-tinged rock tracks, apparently influenced by a tour through Spain. The album’s title is Spanish for ‘the sun’, which is an adequate summation of the band’s disposition. This is solid rock music without pretension, best displayed in the towering centrepiece, Grand Pacific Son. The only stumbling point is tedious album closer, You Ain’t Heard The Last Of Us: while I hope that the title is true, the extraneous track is a disappointing climax to an otherwise enjoyable album. After several listens, the clean lead guitar riffing over rollicking bass and layers of keyboard just sounds plain right: this is an album perfectly suited to summer days spent lounging in front of a muted TV showing the cricket.

ANDREW MCMILLEN

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