The Nottingham four piece have triumphantly managed to produce an energetic, riff changing, synth filled and joyous debut album. I first stumbled across the band over a year ago and since then have eagerly awaited the debut offering after purchasing it at Diverse Music I rushed home to listen to it. From start to finish the album offers many a surprise to the listener’s ears with some very clever and unusual use of pace changes. The album kicks off with an 80’s synth filled introduction that Elton John would have been proud of, had he only managed to intricately submerge it with his yellow brick masterpiece. After the introduction comes to a halt we are the jilted forward into the near perfect catchiness of ‘broken’. Already tapping my foot I am looking forward to the near 43 minutes musical offering playing though my speakers. I get through the first minute of ‘broken’ and soon realise that my head is now moving up and down uncontrollably. I like this album, but how will it pan out? I am then thrusted headfirst into into the weird and exciting world of late of the pier. ‘Space in the woods’ boasts a catchy bassline that reiterates their obvious abundant love of David Bowie. Again my feet are tapping. Samuel Dust’s vocal temperarment is paced perfectly to the melodies and rhythm backing his vocal quaintness. I move on whimsically enjoying the additive of well paced percussion to ‘the bears are coming’ and immediately want to grab my headphones to enjoy more precisely some of the beeps, bleeps, burps, swirls and da da da’s the song has to offer. Moving on through the album it becomes clearer it becomes clearer that late of the pier want you to listen! They want you to have fun and they want you to dance! ‘Heartbeats’, the latest single, starts like christmas and ends after giving you just enough time to hit the dance floor and spin around like an epileptic. I hit ‘whitesnake’ and chill out for about 5 seconds before the progressively paced drums kick back in. Following this up with an instrumental that only reinforces the decision of sparsness to Dusts vocals. A few more tracks pass and ‘Mad dogs and Englishmen’ begins, which if for me one of the stand out tracks on this album without forgetting the playfulness of ‘Bathroom Gurgle’ (the B52’s meets the Klaxons). In conclusion if you want to listen to an album which gets your feet tapping, your hips shaking and your head bopping the sure to pick up your copy. For more info visit www.lateofthepier.com or check out their myspace.