
Emerging from the ashes of Murry The Hump, The Keys may yet suffer for their name change. With the Black Keys currently receiving plaudits for their back-to-basics blues rock whilst Alicia Keys is heralded as the saviour of soul music, the addition of another Keys-related band could cause a little confusion. The Keys also have two feet firmly in the past evoking nostalgia on each track of their eponymous debut effort. Post-punk and blues crop up on 'Love Your Sons And Daughters' and 'Animus' in terms of downbeat vocals and old-school guitar playing respectively. Of a more jovial nature Mike Nesmith would have been proud of the country rock of 'Don't Go Weird On Me Babe' and 'Driving School' but neither can quite compare with the excellent Beach Boys pastiche 'Gurl Next Door'. Other influences are to be found with Jesus And Mary Chain ('Simple'), The Shadows ('From Tense To Loose To Slack' uses a sample from 'Apache') and the melody from The Beatles' 'Here There And Everywhere' can be detected in the melody for 'All The Drugs In The World'. With all these styles covered it's a wonder whether The Keys have an identity of their own but no worries are needed; this Welsh trio triumph with every genre attempted and prove that they are the definitive Keys after all.