The début album from Manchester’s Patterns seems to have been pitched at an interesting point, namely being the point where shoegazing and a certain amount of leftfield elements meet the point where indie is more singalong stadium stylee.
The end result is a solid enough, if not spectacular album, which several listens in demonstrates an atmospheric feel and it’s certainly a cut above much of the landfill which has passed for indie over the last decade or so. There are some good tracks on here – ‘Broken Trains’, ‘Face Marks’ and the title track; yet after several listens, it’s not quite knocking you off your feet.
It is by no means a failure, and there’s certainly a lot of potential here. What would be good to see on their sophomore album is the band throwing caution to the wind and exploring their leftfield leanings, instead of what feels like an attempt to reign them in.
[Rating:3]
Waking Lines is released on Melodic on January 6.
