Isaac's Aircraft - Two Is A Crowd

Big piano driven slabs of pop-rock; we've been awash with it in the past decade - Keane, The Feeling and Mika all plying their own takes on it to varying degrees of success. But a new decade demands a new sound, and one that strikes at the very boundaries of the format. Enter Isaac's Aircraft - from the first track of their debut LP Two Is A Crowd they establish a refined, classy sound befitting their Cambridge roots. It's that same piano led rock, but it feels infinitely more ambitious.

Band member Martin Seidal is a classically trained pianist, and it shows. His chords take centre stage on the majority of the tracks, pulling together a sound that is distinctly British. The band have already had a top 10 internet radio hit over in the US, and what with the Brit-mania that seems to be spreading across America at the moment (Adele and the Royal Family, take a bow please) you can see why they'd take a band like Isaac's Aircraft to their hearts.

Mathematics and Good Man serve as snappy introductions to their record - there's a real unplugged feel here; a result of the band not being able to afford a fully electric album. This never feels like a compromise though, the quality across each and every track on Two Is A Crowd testament to their adaptability.

At times, the piano fades away to be replaced by carefully finger-picked guitar hooks; but the record never feels like an 'acoustic album' though. There is a real weight, a heftyness that elevates it beyond the cobled-together vibe that plagues so many bands' acoustic performances.

And although you'd be hard pushed to tell it, the whole album was remarkably recorded in just two days - Isaac's Aircraft are clearly a band who take efficiency to a whole new level. There's urgency and a real eagerness to please here. The word 'pleasant' comes to mind - but it's important to dismiss this as meaning average or unadventurous, because in a way the album's simplicity is adventure in its own right. It's refreshing to sample something of such clarity once in a while, and in terms of clarity, Two Is A Crowd is about as pure as you can get.

On the whole, the album remains mostly up-tempo, with a smattering of considered, tasteful ballads like Boogie In Boots thrown in. A personal favourite has to She Is Moscow though - a track with swagger to rival the likes of Robbie Williams, a real singer's song that boasts a definitively funky, driving beat.

Isaac's Aircraft come with the credentials of supporting Amy Winehouse and The Zutons on tour, and it is with the latter that they share a similar ear for melody. There's a dependability to the band, you know you can count on them to deliver. And speaking of which, a full electric album is due out in the autumn - which going by the strength of what we've heard here, we shall anticipate eagerly.

Two Is A Crowd is released on the 4th July.