The truth is that Tall Ships have been around for a while, but take a look at their website www.wearetallships.co.uk and it all looks very new, almost as if you have just found an artist embarking on those first tottering steps into the musical world. Current single release Hit the Floor has physically sold out and is now only available as a digital download, which probably reflects that Tall Ships are beginning to build a decent following.

Hit the Floor opens with a short hi-hat cymbal moment before single drum and short pieced guitar; oft loved by post-punk bands. Picking up a simple little riff the shouts of ?hey? bring the vocals in, which are muffled as if Ric has decided to utilise the talents of a megaphone to project his voice. The chorus has a Strokes like feel, before the oration of ?hey? turns the track back to whence it came.

However, to stick with the above pattern would almost certainly turn Hit the Floor into a less than interesting piece, but Tall Ships are just a little bit too clever to fall into that trap and after the second repeated refrain, everything leaves except for the drum and guitar. At first the drum spars with the guitar, before the reverse happens, the guitar kicks back and the drum is pushed back into a supporting capacity as a second guitar joins in the patterned riff. Then more layers of guitar arrive, each perfectly adding to the creation of the track as the pitch changes, the drums become more incessant in the background as cymbals clash in and then suddenly the precipice is reached and a cry calls out, but it?s a temporary reprieve. As the cries continue the guitar and drums pick the phrase back up again and increasingly anguished cries are culled as everything becomes deeper and solid. With the cries extinguished, the vocals return and the track eventually ends on a feedback drowned guitar.

In such a busy market place, Tall Ships have sufficient quality with Hit the Floor to find a place to make their own. Currently supporting Three Trapped Tigers and at festivals such as Outside Inside and Bestival, you could do a lot worse this summer than check Tall Ships out.

Reviewed by Jimbo Walsh

Hit the Floor now only available as a digital download (unless your local independent record store has it hidden away somewhere) from the likes of Amazon.