De Rosa: Mend

Although the Delgados are no more, their label, Chemikal Underground, is. And it is this label that is home to Scottish trio De Rosa. De Rosa doesn’t quite overpower the listener with the weaving “Father’s Eyes”, which keeps things rather straightforward with just the subtle trace of horn (at least it sounds like a horn) thrown in before the slow-building, momentum gaining homestretch. Unlike Sons & Daughters, who beat you about the head with a lean backbeat, De Rosa relies on more layers and sounds early on to come to the same excellent conclusion. An even tighter nugget is the pulsating “Camera”, with its brief stutter step in the chorus that would lend comparisons to a lighter, pop-centric Muse. But they keep showing different sides with each song, especially the barren, naked “New Lanark”, which could be mistaken for an unplugged Waterboys tune. After a rowdy “All Saints Day”, De Rosa returns with another subtle folk rock pleaser that Travis’s Fran Healy would lap up immediately entitled “Hopes & Little Jokes”. The same can be found on the chugging, acoustically centered “Hattonrigg Pit Disaster”. Perhaps it’s the connection to the label, but they even bring the Delgados to mind with the indie rock basics found on “Cathkin Braes”, and “On Recollection” is a cross between the Delays and the Strokes. And it ends with a brilliant “The Engineer”. Keep your ears on this band!