Bastion 4 - The Tale of Gideon Strange (Single Marshco) By Steve Rudd

Delivering bold and beautiful tunes in true style, this Portsmouth-based quartet sound set to take the country by storm with their supremely tuneful brand of indie-rock music. Here, presenting a tune from their second album (Modus Operandi), The Tale of Gideon Strange is propelled by an original melody so strong that it instantly demands your full attention. Euphoric and packed with good vibes, the music of Bastion 4 is very much in a similar vein to the scope of upbeat tunes that London-rooted bands Farrah and McGraw's Law produce.

Scott Jowett and Dan Harding share lead vocal duties to a perfect degree, with b-side Escape The Rot also benefiting greatly from uber-harmonious backing vocals that ensure their sound is firmly rooted in a classic, retro pop-rock fold of grandeur, before their Legendary Divorce (that positively heaves with cocksure guitar hooks) coolly swaggers in a manner similar to The Libertines greatest moments.

To say that these guys have only been playing and song-writing together for the best part of four years, the maturity of their music is thoroughly encouraging. Their second album can only gain the band even more fans, after their well-received debut LP in the form of Strange Constitution marked them out as a band to watch out for - and which made them very popular in Ireland of all places, where they play pretty regularly, aswell as down and out and in and around London.

Thus, their band name sure is appropriate, for these four musicians and singers truly are bastions of genuinely enthralling music. 4/5 www.bastion4.com

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