As ironic and pretentious as it sounds, I hate reading reviews of bands that I’ve never heard before. This is how I was introduced to Gatsby’s American Dream – “imagine Cursive and Blood Brothers performing with Green Day in your living room”. It put me off them before I’d even heard them as it sounded like the most bizarre musical accident with tragic consequences.

Gatsby’s American Dream are a beautiful creation which has been inexplicably neglected by too many musical journalists to date. The trick that Gatsby’s American Dream tucks so neatly up their sleeve is that their key to good music is quality not quantity. ‘Volcano’ contains 13 songs of which only three are over three minutes long. The end of each short song leaves you craving for more, a quality which so many modern bands lack. Opening track ‘Theatre’ is the perfect introduction to Gatsby’s American Dream, lead vocalist Nic Newsham Delivers melodies with such natural clarity and precision, effort seems to be of no worry to him. ‘Pompeii’ follows suit, Newsham couples his vocals so perfectly with the interesting musical ideas that are being toyed with behind him.

Each song on this album holds it’s own special quality – whether it be the slight South American feel of ‘A Mind of Metal and Wheels’ or the tense heart-racer of ‘The Giant’s Drink’. With its jagged guitars and painfully honest lyrics ‘wasting so much time on things I thought I wanted to be. I just see a little baby boy who won’t admit that he fucks up’, it is the best song on the album and the one I’d recommend for download if you want a quick peek into the world of Gatsby’s American Dream.

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