Time For Change by Master Colony

Out now on 208 Records

This four piece from Middlesbrough have released their debut album on Swindon’s 208 Records this week.

The rock pop band have all the raw excitement of the 1960s Beatles era mixed with the sheer style of the 1970s rock gods such as Jimi Hendrix and sprinkled with a coating of today’s gutsy young, sharp rocksters such as the Arctic Monkeys or Kasabian.

The CD starts with a rock your socks off rocket blast in Get Cha’ Mind Off Your Money.

Let Us Have Our Way is a sunny song, catchy with instant appeal and short sharp lyrics. It has a bouncy beat and a sing-a-long chorus. There is a suggestion of White Stripes but with more melody.

Yet in Part Of The Story we get the distinctive retro feeling that, despite their ages - all four musicians are still under 20 years - they have been influenced by the Lennon and McCartney writing partnership and the liveliness of The Kinks.

In Life For Free we are truly back to the modern day rock beat with some gorgeous siren guitar from Joe Smithson and straight out of the traps drumming from Adrian Neal.

The glue between the numbers is the stunning vocals of Alistair Sheerin who can turn on the voice of a rock star, crooner and even true blues grit at a drop of a track.

I love the way the whole band can move from powerhouse rock to a reggae beat without blinking an eyelid. Alistair is the songwriter and each song tells a story.

My personal favourite is Take Me Away, which grabs the attention from the off. It is a pop rock song with bite that bounces along, showcasing each of the musicians individuality.

(They Know) You’ve Done All Right has some blues harp soaring through the song, some tub thumping bass from Lewis Mondal and an anthemic ending.

The title track Time For Change is a chirpy cheeky pop song and Waiting On The Jubilee has an oriental flavour intro with some close harmony backing vocals and powerful screaming guitar riffs. It gives a perfect stadium ending to the album.

Time For Change album is available from the-master-colony.208records.co.uk

- Flicky Harrison