Major by Fang Island

Fang Island just want you to have fun, and there's enough here to party all through the summer.

Fang Island’s message of import concerns the nature of their own chosen medium — that rock music can be fun, exciting and challenging all at the same time. 

Packed with simple, poignant lyrics, the record keeps things awesome without falling prey to its own overindulgent qualities.

Maybe what Major lacks compared to its predecessor is the element of surprise, and it's not just in a musical sense.

While Fang Island climbs through a share of embarrassments, they end on a genuine high point that may be powerful enough to outmaneuver the album’s earlier mistakes.

While Major has a good solid handful of inspired moments, none of this material comes close to approaching the plane as that Fang Island were operating on before.

This is still recognisably a Fang Island album – but one which sounds neutered somehow; the edges far too rounded, the tempos forever middling, and the guitar interplay too clean, tidy and obvious. 

While Fang Island are as likeable as ever, Major just doesn’t do as much to get you into the spirit of their music.