Last Monday saw the release of the debut track by Kids In Glass Houses – a band so new, and yet a week on, even my mother has heard of them! The single, Give Me What I Want, has a sleeve you’d be forgiven for mistaking as a Kylie cover, and a ‘multi-room’ style video, although this may float your boat, especially the pillow fight in the underwear bit. However, the track is very likeable, teen-rock style, and after just two listens you’ll be singing along to it as it plays in your head. You may have already done this, as over the past week it has been heavily played on most rock radio stations, MTV2 and even made its way to the Radio 1 ‘B’ play list – impressive!


The album Smart Casual is released today and continues with their playful and youthful style – despite the rather seductive artwork on the cover! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful then you’ve come to the wrong place, although I feel the album will be the soundtrack to many beach or garden barbeque parties over the coming months.

Smart Casual boasts twelve tracks in total, and in my opinion the top ones are Give Me What I Want, Saturday, and Easy Tiger but you’ll not be disappointed with any of the album tracks; it is by far one of the most consistently polished debut albums I have heard for a long time. In a clever media twist, the album has been available to stream on NME.com for the last week but is now available to purchase through all the usual channels. Personally, I can’t wait to get it on my iPod.


Track Listing:
1. Fisticuffs
2 .Easy Tiger
3 .Give Me What I Want
4. Saturday
5. Lovely Bones
6. Shameless
7. Girls
8. Good Boys Gone Rad
9. Dance All Night
10 .Pillow Talk
11. Raise Hell
12. Church Tongue

On the back of all this, the boys from Wales are part way through a UK tour, continuing with Oxford tomorrow (Tuesday) and ending in London on the 5th June. They are in hot demand, already confirmed on the line up for the Download festival in June, and also playing T in the Park on 11th July (which, by the way, is my birthday, so if you’re feeling generous...) Furthermore, August will see them at both Reading and Leeds festivals, as well as Summersonic in Japan.

This mass media hype can be the making or breaking for bands, with a risk of over-exposure and peaking too soon, but I am confident that we’ll be hearing much more from these boys, and I for one will be following their success and progress very closely. Kids in Glass Houses are going to be huge!

©Meriel Flavell 2008

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