Blend: Act One

By GRAHAM REID

(Herald rating: * * * * )

Teenage angst is pretty universal, but in some places - like Lebanon - it comes with another layer. You'd expect that being born into a country which was ripped apart in a civil war during the 70s and suffered regular warlike incursions from the outside would change your view of the world. Angst, and then some.

But its capital, Beirut, is again a wealthy and cosmopolitan city, so the kids have access to guitars, the internet and Pearl Jam albums. Many of them listen to rock from around the world, just like us. That explains Blend, a massive-sounding and heavily brooding post-grunge outfit formed by Lebanese students at the American university who started off playing covers (Led Zep and yes, Pearl Jam) but over time pulled in electronica and local influences. So their 11-track debut album is a rare and extraordinary blend of moody and grunty grunge-angst ballads (Where do I belong?) with beats and Middle East instruments, Lebanese rap (mostly in English) and with guest vocalist Natacha Atlas on the string-elevated Communicate.

Jad Souaid has a classic Vedder-moody voice but also slips around those microtones to create something distinctive. Add keening violins and viola where you might expect a guitar solo, or some thumping metal/Metallica riffs, with a swooping cello behind, and you have an album that offers consistent surprises.

Not all of it is good (they should never rap). But baritone angst balladry, concrete-mixer guitars, Middle East melodies and instruments, and the great Atlas make for an unusual and entrancing grunge-world music concoction.

Label: Capitol