Kids In Glass Houses - In Gold Blood

 A somewhat late review from a band I've only gotten to know through hearing various singles. Okay.
 So my main experience of the music from Cardiff Alt rockers Kids In Glass Houses has come mainly from Kerrang! TV and Scuzz, starting from hearing the song The Best Is Yet to Come from last years release Dirt, a catchy enough uplifting Pop Rock like tune, but never really managed to attract my full interest on it's own. However, a few months later, a greater sense of interest towards the band emerged with the much more passionate and thought-provoking Matters at All. This feeling of content with the group remained and it didn't seem like they could do anything wrong. However, they proved me wrong when in February I saw the video for Undercover Lover, their collaboration with Frankie Sandford, probably the best known singer in The Saturdays. Says it all, really. It was dull, moronic and had an prominent lack of talent alone, never mind passion.
 And so, I wasn't feeling too optimistic when discovering there was a new video of theirs coming out from their single Animals from their latest album In Gold Blood. However, my negativity was proven wrong, as Animals is a raw dangerous piece of classic Indie Rock and shows a real sense of progression for these lads.
 Therefore a listen to In Gold Blood is essential to ensure this sense of progression remains. And thankfully it does. From the messy unclear and murky intro to Gold Blood, listeners are immediately transported into a raw, thrashy, hard hitting world of traditional Indie Rock. Riffs are heavy and jagged, drum beats are hard hitting yet catchy, basslines are distorted and rhythmic and guitar solo's come fast and wild with a sweet Hardcore sound. Various tracks give the album a more melancholic sound than what has been heard from the group, such as the slow ballad like Fire and the whining vocals and sorrow-laden riffs that makes up Annie May, however an uplifting more hopeful sound makes up the supposedly darker new album such as Not In This World, a hope fueled Indie anthem, with a sound that best emphasizes the bands desire to move forward and the Brass assisted catchy Hard Rock sound of Only the Brave Die Free, featuring a danceable drum beat and grimy bassline which makes KIGH sound like a cheerier version of Muse.
 Personal favourite would have to be the final two tracks Black Crush and A God to Many Devil's because the former sounded like a lighter version of Queens of the Stone Age's Go With the Flow, and A God To Many Devils surprised me for it's dynamic transition from a traditional Indie Rock album send-off into a much heavier sound with more bite.
 In Gold Blood has been claimed by many to divide opinion across previous fans of Kids In Glass Houses and judging by the music videos of tracks from previous albums I've seen, I can understand. In Gold Blood is a much raw and rougher sounding album than any of those previous acts and it's the best sound they've made by far. This is an album that shows a real sense of progression. This album is likely to make the band more respected in the world of rock music than being seen previously as a band that appeals to Pop-Rock loving teenagers. We can only hope that the sound on In Gold Blood is a sound that Kids In Glass Houses comfortably settles into and chooses to develop in the future.