KEEGAN - Underdogs Are Go

15 songs
40:40 minutes
***** ***
Finest Noise

Bandpage

Underdogs Are Go is the third album by Cologne based rock band Keegan. The predecessor Keeping The Sparks from 2011 didn’t convince me, but the third strike is finally the successful one. And that’s not because of the cover photo despite me being a wrestling fan and proud owner of a lucha libre mask

Even though Keegan are a German band, their leader Ian Maxwell is actually from Northern Ireland and has a very pleasant voice reminding me of Guided By Voices’ Robert Pollard. From a musical vantage point, the band doesn’t really limit itself to one genre. Instead they are playing around with elements from rock, alternative, lo-fi, brit pop and occasionally even glam. The songs are concise and always to the point and average about three minutes each. Apart from the quiet and relatively unspectacular Wouldn’t You, the tracks are full of energy and catchy as hell, making sure you won’t forget them anytime soon. Highlights are Hey Sunny which could have been the secret summer hit song this year, and Clockwork whose splendid brass arrangement reminds of some of Alice Cooper’s music from the Seventies.

It is definitely a fun experience to listen to a band like Keegan which is playing in a wonderfully uninhibited way. I can’t say if the band has matured or if it was the line-up change, but their new material sounds incredibly infective. Do continue like that!