Album Review: Boston Manor – GLUE

Boston Manor, a quintet from Blackpool, have never been the band to stick to one genre. From previous releases sharing pop-punk sounds to GLUE giving us some electronic experimental tunes, you can expect that this band will never leave you short of something new.

GLUE seems to be more than just another album. It’s a take on our modern world. This release is angry and the band was ready to tell us something.

The album kicks off with “Everything is Ordinary,” a song with a chaotic start and a catchy chorus that explains how desensitized this world is to bigger problems. The perfect track to leave the listener eager for more. This makes a segue into “1’s & 0’s,” which had a bit more of the similar sounds fans may be used to from their 2018 release, Welcome To The Neighbourhood.

While the album continues to have a chaotic and high energy feeling throughout, this didn’t stop Boston Manor from giving us gentle tunes and songs to sing along to. “Plasticine Dreams,” an earlier released single from the album features Henry Cox’s vocals in a calm and easy matter.

We can all tell Cox had quite a bit to say on this album. Important messages are delivered with “Terrible Love” hitting on mental health themes to “On A High Ledge” tackling toxic masculinity. Both of these songs are bound to find their way into your weekly rotations.

“Monolith,” the closing track on this wonderfully chaotic and fresh sound from the quintet leaves us wanting to hear more about what they have to say…and we’re ready for it.

GLUE is a “call-to-arms” for change and a reflection of our modern world. A band great at blurring genre lines and experimenting in such a wonderful way, I can’t wait to see where they continue to go.

Stream GLUE here and follow the band on Facebook to see what they have in store.

Resurget co-founder Robert Sherman will be reviewing “Terrible Love” as part of his live reaction series, “Robert Sherman Reacts.”

Photo by Edd Taylor.