YARD ACT
The Overload ZEN FC/ISLAND
Leeds quartet’s gloriously pithy, peculiar debut
9/10
When confronted with Yard Act’s first long player, the reference points come thick and fast. But they never sound remotely predictable or generic partly thanks to the droll vocal delivery of James Smith, who sounds like a pre-fame Vic Reeves reading blackly humorous suburban cautionary tales as The Fall do tagteam switches with the Blockheads and Delta 5. A grab-bag of urgent pub-funk grooves, underpinned by abrasive Burnel-esque bass growls, sardonic chants and hooky shards of guitar make for a debut album bursting with character, as does a compulsively entertaining lyrical narrative – peaking on “Tall Poppies”, the epic rise-and-fall tale of a big fish in a small town.