Until I found “Underdogs Are Go”, Keegan´s third longplayer, on my desk I had never heard of the band and have to admit that the cover left me a bit skeptical regarding the music I might find on it. Whatever it was I expected when I first looked at the album, the happy sounding Powerpop I heard was definitely not it and a rather pleasant surprise.
Strange expectations aside, I immediately liked this album. It rocks, it grooves, you can dance to it and if offers a surprising variety of different sounds. I find it difficult to pinpoint exactly what the music reminds me of – it seems to be a mixture of so many different elements. The beginning of “Our Hearts”, for example, makes me think of Monty Python for some reason, while the closer “Walk Away” somehow has a bit of Green Day and “Clockwork” reminds me of “Sympathy For The Devil” not only during the first lines. Yet, none of this means that the music that can be heard on this album has only been cleverly stolen from others, quite the contrary. The band takes what is known but changes it into something of their own, creating a diverse, yet recognizable sound. While most of the songs are faster and have lots of power, I´d like to mention the more ballad-sy “Wouldn´t you” here, a nice break from the force of the others songs. The band breezes through different styles, one minute sounding like Rockabilly and the next minute like Punk. Each instrument is played skillfully, the singing is captivating and the backing vocals make me want to sing along. It´s noticeable that the band enjoyed making this album, you can hear the fun they had. Everything is perfectly produced and comes together as a whole that is more than the sum of its parts. Last but not least, with the mostly happy sounds, one should not think that the lyrics are not worth listening to. They most certainly are. Well done, guys, keep it up!
Tracklist:
1. Underdogs Are Go
2. Nancy
3. Call To Arms
4. Hey Sunny
5. Our Hearts
6. Clockwork
7. Sofa Sister
8. Wouldn´t You
9. Norman
10. Grab
11. Pld
12. Vance
13. Ties
14. All Things New
15. Walk Away
