I can’t quite work out how I haven’t written about The Assist before – I’ve been keeping track of them for a year or so and they’ve impressed at every turn. Probably their most infectious effort yet is the recently released ‘Love‘ which does a damn good job of summing up their sound.
At the heart of it all is a distinctive vocal that gives you a better geographical location of the band than any map ever could. Stylistically there’s everything from mod influences to twinges of catchy, riff-heavy pop to be gulped down and it all melds together smoother than a milkshake that’s spent a bit too long on the machine and nearly made you miss a train (cheers again, AMT Coffee…). These lads had a 2015 to be incredibly proud of and here’s hoping that they power through onto even bigger stages in 2016 – they’ve already appeared alongside the similarly sounding Reverend and the Makers and the inimitable Happy Mondays so it doesn’t get a whole lot better.
This is all about straight-shooting and getting right down to the job of making a tune that’ll resonate with people who let music drive their lives forward. Mark my words, you’ll regret it if you don’t let this lot into your ears.
We Close Tonight 