Bastila

Frenetic beats plunge you straight into Bastila’s debut album. There’s no beating about the bush here as Rob da Bank’s new pro­tégés attack like ADD drummer-boys on Christ-mas day in opening tracks You Can’t Catch Me and The Slacker. Jackie Boy moves the album into (relatively) more mellow fields, with echos of Bob Dylan on vocals, Badly Drawn Boy-style horns and a ubiquitous tambourine. Takin Over lurches between carnivalesque beats before Ghosts transports you to a hypnotic chorus of bitter insecurity: “Do you think of me when your world comes down, crashing to the floor.” Bastila runs through a cornucopia of moods.

Bastila’s big break came with the opportunity to open the main stage at Bestival 2006 on their native Isle of Wight. Adam Clark, Pat Dingnan, Cody Entwhistle, Kevin Ledger and Christoppher Turvey infuse Brit Pop, folk, flamenco guitars and stomping drums, never shying away from an un­usual concoction. At times similar to the Zutons, at times reminiscent of the band in the local country pub, Bastila create a refreshingly adventurous sound. www.myspace.com/bastilamusic.

Ruby Beesley