Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Back in 1985 I produced a various artists album ‘The Buzz On The Streets’ for Word where up and coming grassroots bands tried to attract the attention of Joe Public and land a full-on album deal. Clearly things have come full circle because the band who stepped out from the obscurity of that album, if not into stardom but at least into years of touring as a full time band were Split Level. And on this set offering “three up and coming UK bands” we have Adrian Thompson, one time lead singer of Split Level, producing one of the new UK bands, Chasing Stars. With an impressive track record (Chasing Stars have toured all over with worship man Paul Oakley as his backing band) they make driving, if hardly original, rock music with an intention to “communicate faith in the language of screaming guitars.” The ballad “Only Human” is a welcome relief from all the high energy rhythms elsewhere though vocalist Martin Cooper doesn’t sound entirely comfortable. More impressive are Supervision who specialise in full-on psonic assault though with surprisingly catchy hooks. No doubt their three tracks here will produce something for radio as have their last two independent releases. The surprise package for me were the three tracks by Titus. I was underwhelmed by their earlier independent releases, but the tracks here are a huge improvement with the band now doing catchy punk rhythms like Christendom’s answer to Busted. With a bonus track from Kato this £9.99 CD should be sought out by everyone wanting to see the grassroots develop in Britain.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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