Reviewed by Simon Eden

Back in the 1960s there were the Beach Boys wishing all girls could be Californian. The UK has had to wait a few years for their reply, but now we have it. Tom and Olly; hailing from Newhaven and Seaford on the South Coast near Brighton, their vibrant affection for beach life comes over in "Down By The Sea". This is their follow up to a rap-based debut album that has its closest comparison to Mike Skinner's The Streets. Although there are still some raps such as "In My Head" this album had gone far more melodic with great vocal harmonies between the guys (although difficult to tell them apart) over a catchy indie guitar backing. Like the Arctic Monkeys but with a lot more quality. You are likely to see these guys playing some of the summer festivals and with such a positive vibe, this album is the theme tune to your favourite summer with mates at a BBQ on the beach. Most of the lyrics are not obviously Christian, the material here dealing with normal University age life, particularly love and girls, but "Heaven Bound" does get the point over as "The Father made my soul". What gets me is why these guys aren't huge yet?

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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