Reuben: excellent live band, excellent singles, 8 months (at least) of waiting for something else to happen, and now finally an excellent debut album. With an excellent title.

Those of you who read my recent live review of Reuben may well have spotted the less than desperate enthusiasm for their first long player - well, thankfully I can confirm that they have not adopted the success rate of players in the current European Championships who beat two men and then completely fail to deliver a decent end product.

This album is everything I could have hoped for really. Reuben consistently pull off with aplomb what they have always done best - heartfelt rock devoid of cliché yet verging on emo with a hefty helping of three piece metal, tunes that only they could write, lyrical prowess, inventive musical arrangements and a thumping delivery. Thanks to a sparkling production job the band sound crystal clear all the way through and don't lack for punch either; thus tracks like latest single "Freddy Kreuger" and second song "Horror Show" are able to shine like the perfect pop-rock songs they are, full of life, energy and glorious tuneage.

My only criticism would be that, at 16 songs, Racecar is Racecar Backwards is perhaps a tad longer then it needed to be. Extending the finer moments and dropping some of the less fine would have turned this 8/10 into a 9, but when you consider the wait for this album it's not surprising Reuben had a fair bit of material stacked up.

In conclusion then, a highly original album delivered with...

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