Album review - The Sums - If Only

The Sums (Peter 'Digsy' Deary - Vocal, Guitar, Chris Mullin - Vocal, Bass, Lee Watson - Guitar, Chris Campbell - Drums) make a promising start on their debut album 'If Only' with a varied mix of tracks.

Distinctive above all else is Digsy's vocals. The sharp,piercing vocals are distinctive and at times exude pain. Along with the intelligent lyrics this makes it an album to listen to more than once just to pick up on some of the gems within the words.

From the opening "air raid" siren bringing us into a quick paced Darken My Doorstep, it sets the tone for the rest of the album. The electric guitar piercing the void never quite overtakes Digsy's vocals but has a good damn try at it. 

Mind Field has a wonderful guitar hook and, for me, stands out from the rest with its more mainstream feel to it and digsy's voice on this is grainier than ever and with lyrics that could easily have come from the man himself John Lennon. I'm hoping that is a compliment!

The album ends well also with Lets get Special Moving along at a quick speed until its demise at the end which slowly fades like the sun setting on a summer day.

Overall a great album and if we are led to believe previous interviews the first of  3 albums the Sums could record. I look forward to hearing the next one to see in which direction the band decide to go in.

As quoted by Digsy “We’re putting Liverpool on the moon, not just the map “says singer Digsy. Lets hope they succeed in doing that.