Modern Faces - Pravda Scrolls / Cynical Brother

Their YouTube page touts them as 'the resurrection of British Rock n Roll', and to give them their dues, Modern Faces play like a whistle-stop who's-who tour of the Brit-pop glory days. Their debut single Pravda Scrolls is like The Charlatans, Stone Roses and Kasabian all piled into one - a heady mix of lager-fuelled hooks and Madchester glory revitalised for the 21st century.

With Kasabian's commercial success dipping of late and numerous sites tolling the 'death of British guitar music', Modern Faces feel like a genuine shot in the arm for the genre; a group that could genuinely take up the mantel as the next great up-and-coming UK guitar group.

If the band sound like the past, that's not necassarily a bad thing - after all, with the Stone Roses' own resurrection, there's never been a time when the market was more primed for a new band owing so much to them to make a go of it. For a band so steeped in the excesses and rock mythology of Manchester, the irony is that they're actually Scottish.

Having toured with Kasabian, The Charlatans and Shed Seven, they've clearly learned their sound first-hand from their progenitors, but unlike the doomed Viva Brother - who longed so much to be Oasis re-born - Modern Faces have the tunes to back themselves up with. There's real substance in the likes of Pravda Scrolls that speaks of a band with the ability to grow, to craft an album of consistency and serious intent.

There's much to be said for 90s revivalism - just as the last ten years saw so many acts turning to the 80s for inspiration, now the decade of pre-Millenial anticipation rears its head for a second go round. With acts like Modern Faces sating themselves on a diet of British greats, it fair to say some of that original sparkle has rubbed off on them - Pravda Scrolls makes for a confident, ambitious debut.

Pravda Scrolls / Cynical Brother is released on the 9th April.