The Answer - Keep Believin' (EP Release/ALBERT) Reviewed By Steve Rudd

When a band like The Darkness requests that your band open for them at the Brixton Academy, then you surely know that you are onto a very good thing indeed. This is what happened to this truly awesome band in The Answer, who are busting out of Downpatrick in Ireland with a metaphorical fistful of dynamite and an aching ambition to be the best.

The Darkness first saw - and were understandably impressed by - these four long haired lads at a show in Ireland, yet The Answer only recently made their debut festival appearance in England at the Download weekend in June. Perhaps one of the reasons that The Darkness were so impressed by The Answer is because in front man Cormac Neeson there is more than a bit of Justin Hawkins. Cormac's violently versatile voice is astounding, overwhelming - simply extraordinary.

Hitting the high notes like a young man possessed, Cormac is one of the most exciting singers around right now, dominating both the stage and the band's hard-rocking sound with a soulful and sensual voice that could bring Robert Plant and Paul Rogers both to their knees in tribute.

This EP is a fantastic four-track affair, with Keep Believin' an incredible cut that would sit nicely at the top of the charts if justice prevailed. No Questions Asked rampages with a similar burning desire, before Be What You Want (which is arguably the greatest song here) opens with a swift acoustic guitar melody before the electric guitars and drums kick in, and The Answer's dynamic sound hits out in its own unique and thoroughly beastly manner.

The Answer aren't a metal band. They play stupendously catchy hard rock, and make the most of an incredible presence. Their sublime swagger ensures that So Cold is yet another brilliant track that has to be heard at all costs. Indeed, every song on this EP is an out-and-out anthem - and everyone's a winner. Cormac's rousing lead vocals complement the band's harmonious backing vocals, with the guitarist in Paul Mahon reeling out angular riffs as though he was born to be wild.

Paul was the man who first rallied the troops, even going so far as to tempt Cormac back across to Ireland from New York, where he was living at the time that Paul was trying to put the band together. Micky Waters is the bass-man, while James Heatley has the freedom to hit on his drum-kit as much as he wants to without any fear of rejection. James, incidentally, was once Ash's stand-in sticksman back in 1993.

Regardless of the question, The Answer are The Answer are The Answer, yes it's true. On the strength of this staggering release alone, they are certainly one of the most exhilarating bands around right now. www.theanswermusic.com

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