You would be churlish to not admire their work ethic, the fact they rose through the ranks through sheer hard work and determination (a fact we should celebrate in our nation's youth!); the fact that they obviously just love to play no matter where, but not unabashed to explicitly state they would love to play stadiums; the fact that they were ignored by much of the industry for a long while, before Communion, of all labels, the brainchild of Mumford & Sons' Ben Lovett, gave them a platform, from which they sprang forward to Communion's mother label, Island Records; the fact that their name is derived from an Australian street busker, and that it in no way hints at what they do, musically. Above all, it's the music, stupid. It is both simple and subtly sophisticated; a rare trick to pull off, and which many-a-band would pull their hair out for.

These are reasons why they have amassed such a large fan base, and a shoe-in number one album with The Ride. But critically, there has been a generally lukewarm reaction to their music, the first album The Balcony included. Within the context of their rising mass popularity perhaps it's not surprising. We wish and hope that commercial success equates to artistic success. But writers often somehow miss the fact that very often the best music does rise to the top. Somehow commercial success can blind us to artistic endeavour. There is still a strand of thought amongst the musical cognoscenti that can’t quite marry artistic success with commercial success. Unless, you're Radiohead.

On the surface, it's maybe understandable that this could be dismissed as average, bog standard, ham and cheese, meat and two veg, indie 'landfill' rock. They may have not helped their cause by offering opinions on their working-class credentials and perhaps coming across as a bit pretentious in that department. Thoughts such as: "I feel like everybody started thinking too outside the box, trying to be arty," as McCann has said in the lead-up to the release of The Ride. Looking up to the likes of Oasis, as they do, can easily draw sarcastic asides. And, for sure, Catfish may not be quite in Oasis' or The Strokes' league, but they are giving them a bloody good game. Songs such as ‘Soundcheck’ have the right blend of warmth and intensity, groove and melody, and while it’s patently obvious these are stadium friendly songs, there's much more to their music than some are giving them credit for. Indeed, the song breaks down half way, to become a completely new song; a huffing hammond, underpinned by the kick drum and McCann’s languid vocal, before it blows up into a whirlwind of fluid guitar interplay, finishing off with the hands-in-the-air stadium chorus. Laughingly, some have fallen for their dryness and down-to-earthiness. For instance, when one journo asked McCann what ‘Soundcheck’ was about, McCann, perhaps rather dryly and with a hint of weariness, said it was about running off to see a girl after a soundcheck. Indeed it is, but it’s written with a great deal more thought and, dare I say it, artiness, than that: “I wanted everything at once / Until you blew me out of my mind / Now I don’t need nothing.” Clunky, maybe, and maybe cliqued. But, like much of the lyrics here, it’s concise, delivered with honesty, flows well, and is universal in its application.

On lead track ‘7’ the so-called mid-tempo landfill tendency is undermined by a vaguely leisurely groove for the chorus and the odd, rather conversational tone of McCann. It also features the brilliantly ear-opening lines: “Larry call a load of smoke in I wanna lose a couple days,” followed by understated gems such as: “We've probably never struggled coping but I never want to". This is not your average landfill inde-rock lyricism. And ‘Postpone’ has at its centre a great chugging, glam style rhythm, interspersed with an almost Midlake type groove, again two songs or more in one. Similarly, Anything is a song of different components including a startling, high-in-the-mix, guitar solo towards the end, and some subtly expressive lyrics, that detail a relationship that seems to be imperfect, but respectful: "And though you'll mix up every detail of every story that you're ever gonna tell me if it means that we get through." ‘Twice’ ("Christ, I ain’t never going back to thinking straight") is also a deceptively clever little number, that doesn't do what you think it might, such is the song's inventiveness, playfulness even.

The simple solo acoustic songs ‘Glasgow’ and ‘Heathrow’, which help to provide a little respite from the loud indie-rock, may not herald anything that might be deemed high art, but they do work as honest and raw songs, both inhabited by a memorable melody, that no doubt will be covered by countless musicians in the coming months and years.

Throughout The Ride, McCann has an unshowy, but imaginatively straight-forward way with words at times, allied to some melodically shifting songs that clearly demonstrate a band with a very firm grasp of dynamics, as well as one who have spent much time crafting and thinking about their work. But, it all sounds natural, not forced. And, I ask you, who else has used the word ‘obfuscate’ in a lyric, and got away with it? Yeah, there's plenty of stuff here about getting loaded, drunk, and getting, dealing with, and losing girls, but there’s also an undoubted fragility and questioning side on The Ride. It’s ordinary stuff shone through the mind of someone who has patently experienced life in the ordinary lane, but is now verging on the status of superstar. McCann's a young man, living the dream in a world of rock'n'roll. Is this so surprising?

The aptly named The Ride is what the band are going through. The ride of a lifetime. I’m hopping on!
Jeff Hemmings

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