This year hasn’t been all too bad for music, that’s if you can let your rage go towards manufactured shite and reality “stars” being played everywhere. If you can get past that, and listen to something with substance- you’ll have realised that this year, some amazing debut albums were released. Such as Cults, Dirty Beaches, Anna Calvi and Washed Out. Now it’s the turn of one of my favourite duos and new bands of this year to release their album.

Big Deal don’t use drums. As someone who is consantly in awe of anyone who can play the drums and this euphoric, big sound they create- how could I possibly love Big Deal? Quite easily really. I remember hearing Locked Up lasy year, and I was so enthralled by what I was hearing. I loved how their voices flowed, it was juts perfect. A few months later I heard Talk and it was so stunning and so heartbreaking. The way they sing, “All I wanna do is talk, but seeing you fucks me up.” It’s so simple, but I know that so many can relate to it. Although the band aren’t a couple, you can’t help but think they mean it about each other. They have that chemistry in their lyrics, it’s quite overpowering- just like The Kills.

Big Deal’s sound is simple, it’s just them and their guitars. However lyrically, it’s so much more than that. There is such depth and twinges of hurt  in their lyrics that really comes across in their vocals, which at times sound so haunting and vulnerable. With a lot of bands, they can sing the sad songs but with no feeling. There is so much feeling in Big Deal’s music, I can’t possibly pick out which songs evoke the most feeling- they all do. The opener, Distant Neighborhood is probably one of my favourites. With first listen I can safely say that this is one of the most beautiful albums I’ve heard this year. In a way, they remind me of The Moldy Peaches- mainly because of how their voices go together. It’s just beautiful.

As far as debut albums go, this one is gorgeous. It oozes such fragility from start to finish, if you cannot find something to love in that- then I guess you don’t have a heart.