An apt title, as Fatherson are indeed the sum of all their parts: Coldplay, Biffy, Incubus….

Opener The Rain replicates the sound of one of those emotional rock bands of a decade ago, with shimmery guitar and massive bass, and that’s pretty much the modus o

perandum.
It’s all radio friendly and crowd-pleasing; proficient anthemic rock that should take Fatherson in the direction of stadia, but just a little too slick.

We probably played this album 18 or 20 times for this review, and the arc was: “Not bad but a little forgettable …. Hey, not bad, there are some good tunes on here, better than expected …. What was that we just played?”

Two dozen plays is quite a lot but the tunes are so slick that while they get some traction — the “Hey, not bad” period — their formulaic nature means you soon get attenuated and they cease to register.

Still, Coldplay and Biffy have done well with big commercial songs for big venues, and the musicians are good: singer Ross Leighton has a powerful set of lungs and band is tight.

At the end of the day: nothing new but slick and entertaining; the crowds who like travelling to barns to watch bands –  so far away they have to be watched on screens –  play sing-along anthems at great volume will probably love it.