This new single from Newcastle indie/synth quartet Air To Achilles feels like the work of four men with the ambition to push their music to the grandest level it's possible to reach without being distasteful, and on 'Wild Palms' they just about make their lofty goal. There are no cheap tricks here, no welding a string section on to the thing to take a short-cut to a big sound. Instead they aim for the epic using a huge chorus and bellowing, chest-beating vocals backed by gentle guitar and synths. Sticking a clattering, crashing beat behind it all doesn't do their cause any harm either.
If comparisons are to be drawn, then the radio-slaying synth-pop of Duran Duran and the epic post-punk of early U2 or Simple Minds are obvious influences, but Air To Achilles are a far less garish proposition to any of those, they seem to have better taste than that. Of course this means 'Wild Palms' is never likely to repeat that kind of chart success, but it aims for the skies, gets within tickling distance of them and returns with its integrity intact, and that's no mean feat.
Air To Achilles' website
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