Athlete - Trading Air

I've had Athlete's latest album Tourist for a couple of months now. I remember going to the record store and picking it up after I read a review online about a performance they gave when opening for one of my favotrite bands, Snow Patrol. When I got to my car I ripped open the packaging and put it in my CD player. After listening to the disc all the way through once, I tossed it in my backseat, christening it a Coldplay ripoff. Alas, I was quick to judge.

After clearing some room in the back of my car to give some friends a ride over the weekend, I came across the CD again and decided to bring it inside and listen to it while I took a bath. This time I was impressed with the soaring melodies, the haunting lyrics and general hopefulness of the music. There's a matureness about a lot of bands that have been coming out the UK for the past couple of years. Polite punk, you could say. Squatters with manners. The attitude is less bratty than their US counterparts. While ten years ago I was bopping along to Weezer, these days Athlete is more my speed.

BONUS TRACK: Changes