Van Susans
Album: Paused In The Moment
Label: Beatnik Geek
Tracks: 12
Website: http://www.vansusans.com

With gutsy guitar pop songs by the pound, a bright production and the kind of off-the peg hooks not heard since Busted gave up the ghost (sorry, but there it is), Bromley sextet Van Susans may well be very familiar very soon.

The unashamedly perky album opener and former single Bricks Not Sticks Or Straw makes an open-hearted play for the daytime radio airplay mainstream and were the album confined to similar fare such as Popo and XXX, we might be forced to consider a bright (but short) burst of stellar energy.

However, there's (mercifully) a bit more to Van Susans that prospective chart hits. Fireworks cuts a steely Celtic rock shape that even though it is highly derivative, is at least suggestive that something else is at work here. Stepping Stones is more Jimmy Eat World than Mumford & Sons, but The Road and Served Cold throw some folkier logs on the fire and If I Succeed even manages to put a brake on the exuberant delivery and conjure something more wistful.

Paused in the Moment is certainly a lively bag of tricks, but there's more than enough here to suggest Van Susans have plenty to play with in their search for identity.

Nick Churchill
www.thegranvillechambers.co.uk