Golden Virgins Songs Of Praise

A concept album of love songs? Well, not really, but the Golden Virgins have stated their intent to reinvent the genre and fashion it in their image. However, country-tinged rock'n'roll ballads are not necessarily Sunderland's foremost export, so a little readjustment of stereotypes may be necessary for this album to force its way into a collective consciousness.

Lucas Renney's songwriting is clearly the focus here - eloquent yet accessible, his vocals sit somewhere between Elvis Costello and Andy (Therapy?) Cairns' Evil Elvis croon, and are quite nicely suited to the wide stylistic range of the album. A world-weary sigh permeates the almost Divine Comedy-esque Staying Sober and Shadows Of Your Love, while a folky lilt accompanies Never Had A Prayer and an Elvis Costello bite appears in The Thought Of Her. Although there's nothing outstandingly original here, and in all honesty, the love song isn't reinvented by the Golden Virgins any more than it was by Costello or the Undertones, but there is a subtle and appealing delicacy to each track on the album.

I didn't really want to like this album (he says, betraying a distinct lack of objectivity). Look at the album cover, the band name, the album title, the fact that they're from Sunderland. Which makes the fact that I'm now really impressed, um, more impressive. It took a little while, but this album really won me over. For a new band there's a real depth and lyrical prowess in the songwriting, and a classic sort of sound to the band. Who knows, maybe they could go on to big things.