above them Are We a Danger to Ourselves? (LP, £13.75)

The second album by UK's ABOVE THEM succeeds completely at its goal to draw you in and quickly makes it way into heavy rotation on your turntable with its guitar hooks with and melodic vocals. From the exhilarating and propulsive “Temper like a Hand Grenade” which sees the band at their driving, energetic best, to the expansive final statement of “Are we a danger...”, ABOVE THEM enable the listener to feel their music in ways that are immediate and pleasurable but also lasting and haunting. Unlike so much music today, it rewards you, giving you the experience of a fulfilled and yet still yearning, lively potential, one that will be further realized when the songs are performed live.