Last year I reviewed Readymade Breakup’s debut album. I was impressed then, and they suffer no sophomore slump. In fact, the group has raised the bar and jumped over it. The rousing opening on “One by One” is full of great energy and Lead singer Paul Rosevear turns it into an anthem along the lines of U2 and Squeeze. Then you can groove to the Abbey Road guitar riffs of “Honey, you might be right” with a McCartney-like vocal wailing (somewhere, Lenny Kravitz is kicking himself that he’s not doing this kind of music anymore). The songwriting is steadier here and less of the debuts stylistic shifts, terrific bass-driven leads are all over the album. A perfect example is “Surrender” that plays like Glen Tilbrook backed by Jason Falkner. The mid tempo songs are mixed well between the heavier rock, so the album flows nicely from one style to another effortlessly. This is followed by the Queen-like ballad “I Don’t Mind” minus Brian May, but Rosevear gives his best performance. Another standout is “Stretch Your Head” with it’s 70’s rock ethos and blues falsetto. The Freddie Mercury style continues on “Quiet” and the band gets quite a smooth groove on the soulful gem “Ugly” which recalls Badfinger. It ends off on a high energy note with the “Back To The Bubble,” a rousing tune that recalls the Faces and Rooney combined. With not a single dud here in a very tight set of ten songs, this is crunchy power pop at it’s best. It also makes it easy to recommend as a top ten for 2008. Don’t miss it.
Listen to “Talking To Myself”