Also referred to as CD / EX, this double-A-sided single is the rather belated follow-up to the band’s ‘I Need Your Touch’ release at the end of 2010. That particular single really caught our attention here at LOUD HORIZON, and this one is no different in that respect.

Listening to ‘A Modest Refusal’ and ‘Tell The Girl’ is as refreshing as your first lager after a weeklong course of antibiotics during a heat wave. As with the earlier release, Chris’s devotion to traditional Rock ‘n’ Roll is obvious, the opening bars of ‘A Modest Refusal’ reflecting the simple guitar / vocal / harmony intros from many an early Sixties teen-love anthem. However, with a brash mood and key change, the song erupts much in the same fashion as Leftover Crack’s ‘Crack City Rockers’ (oh yes it does!) and transforms into some kind of rowdy, modern interpretation of Doo-Wop with little Spector-esque breakdowns. Ticks all my boxes, then ….

‘Tell The Girl,’ also races on and bounces away, but although the vocals have that little tremolo preferred by some Rock ‘n’ Roll icons, this one has more of a prevalent New Wave attitude. Know what it makes me think of? Like a generic Altered Images song with Clare Grogan’s voice played at 33rpm while the backing is played at the proper 45rpm! The guitar solo on this one also echoes a little ‘Scottishness’ in the same way as early Big Country work did. The chorus is catchy as f… and overall I don’t think you could get much better.

There – I think that just about sums it up.

(10/10)