Anyone who’s been living in Dublin for the last decade may recall the moment of shock when they heard that the scruffy kids who used to sing tunelessly outside HMV on Grafton Street now had a record deal. The 747s should inspire similar thoughts, as lead-men Ned Crowther and Oisin Leech used to hawk their wares to drunken punters under the Bewley’s clock at one in the morning every weekend. You can’t help wondering why they made it, when that guy with the empty Coke bottles vanished without a trace.
Oxford native Crowther had the good sense not to be born in Dublin, so Leech is the only band member who can be damned with the ‘local talent’ tag. They both deserve credit for getting the hell out of town at the first opportunity and heading over to Naples, to link up with a squatting scene that obviously left its mark (it’s been a while since a band have used the word ‘Marxist’ in their publicity material).
This lengthy preamble is an attempt to set the scene before mentioning their recent collaboration with Arctic Monkeys. Every time a new band emerges over the next 18 months you’re likely to hear that their mother-in-law once gave Alex Turner’s auntie a parking ticket, so it’s best to steer clear of those waters.
Anyway, are they any good? Well, there are a few promising moments on this debut. ‘Night And Day’ has an instantly catchy chorus that brings the SFA to mind, while ‘Equilibrium’ is a chilled-out number with a bit of a ska flavour. There’s a retro tinge to many of these songs but it’s not too intrusive. All in all, there’s enough here to suggest that the 747s don’t need any famous mates to make it further.