Athlete - Hurricane Format: Single Release Date: 27th Sep 2007 Label: EMI Rating: Athlete have never been ‘cool’ and I imagine that they never really will be. They tread the shallow water somewhere between Coldplay and Travis in the ‘how heavy is your rock’ stakes. There are no supermodels and crack cocaine tales here and the singer doesn’t make pictures from his own blood. What the band do though, is make ultra listenable unobtrusive melodic rock records, which never fail to be competent and highly listenable. The single “Hurricane” is built on a soaring guitar riff, the like of which you only find in the very best of Manic Street Preachers and U2’s armories. The riff is so huge it could fill a stadium on its own, to a dedicated fan this would be the sort of melodic progression that sends tingles down the spine. The accompanying music and vocals, never really come out of a polite third gear, but with Athlete, this never seems necessary. You can stick this single and its accompanying album in the Cd player on a lazy Sunday afternoon and happily half-listen to this record for hours. It serves its purpose and is made with thought and care, what more can you ask for?

Written by: David