This is a crucial album for Seafood. With the likes of Idlewild temporarily off the scene, there's a gap in the market for young indie tykes with loud guitars and big choruses.
Happily, 'When Do We Start Fighting' fits the bill with aplomb. Recorded in New York with Girls Against Boys' Eli Janney, the album possesses a tautness but also an emotional depth that rescues it from being merely disposable moshpit fodder.
Beginning with recent single 'Cloaking', with singer David Lines barked instruction of "Get up, get up, get up, soldier", and the bristling 'Western Battle', where drummer Caroline Banks screams "Wasters!" as the guitars reach meltdown, gives the impression that what's approaching is a series of short, frenetic blasts of white noise.
Wrong. That over half of the album is given over to the quieter moments - such as the gently romantic 'Pleasurehead', the yearning reflection of 'What May Be The Oldest', featuring guest vocals from ex-Madder Rose singer Mary Lorson, and Lines solo 'Desert Stretched Before The Sun' - is testament to Seafood's desire not to be pegged as simply the inheritors to The Pixies and Sonic Youth's crown.
While they still rock adroitly on the likes of 'Splinter' and 'Similar Assassins', this album sees Seafood expand their horizons into widescreen and produce one of the most unexpected delights of this year so far.
