Albums round up: A Dream Outside by Gangahr; My Love Is Cool by Wolf Alice; Incapacitated, Ill-Fated and In Love by The Grand

Having first seen Gengahr at Live at Leeds more than a year ago, this album seems to have been a long time in the making but, thankfully, it is well worth the wait.

Packed with an endless stream of three-minute pop songs, the London four-piece have produced a great debut album.

There’s no unnecessary padding to the songs anywhere, with the standout tracks being the excellent ‘She’s a Witch’ ‘Heroine’ and ‘Fill My Gums With Blood’. But there are plenty of treasures to be had throughout to offer the promise that there is much more to come.

Already playing Leeds/Reading, they will also be playing Leeds and Sheffield as part of a wider tour in October. Well worth a visit.

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Wolf Alice – ‘My Love Is Cool’ (Dirty Hit)

Having seemingly been around for absolutely ages, it seems almost strange to accept that this is Wolf Alice’s debut album.

A constant touring schedule and a couple of timely EP releases in ‘Blush’ and last year’s ‘Creature Songs’ has catapulted the four-piece into being widely touted as ‘the next big thing’.

Encouragingly, they veer away from including only one of the tracks previously released via the EPs to offer a storming set of new material here.

From the grand, dreamy opener ‘Turn to Dust’ through to the frenetic closing track ‘Fluffy’, ‘My Love Is Cool’ is a roaring, triumphant debut.

The Grand – ‘Incapacitated, Ill-Fated and In Love’ (Philophobia)

On hearing this somewhat grandly-titled debut album from the Wakefield three-piece, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was anything but a first offering.

With a hint of The National and Arcade Fire rippling throughout, Russ Smith, Thomas Peel and Andy Jennings have come up trumps and, with any justice, should be picked up by a much wider audience.

Wonderfully-crafted songs such as ‘A City That Loves Me’, ‘Don’t You Hate It When I’m Right’, ‘‘I Got It Wrong’ and ‘Eating Out of His Hands’ point at obvious potential that you just hope will be realised on a bigger stage.