Blindspott: Blindspott

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

(Herald rating: * * * )

They're certainly well named - seemingly from out of nowhere, Blindspott have neatly sideswiped the local music industry and this, their debut album, arrives already a hotcake-status number one.

As initial singles Nil by Mouth and S.U.I.T. have shown, the West Auckland quintet's particular take on nu-metal has shown equal parts youthful exuberance and outright f-word belligerence.

Of the latter, if there's a song among the 11 which doesn't require the ol' parental advisory, then it will take a keen set of ears to find it (though it seems from the substantial thank-you list that Blindspott love their mums and dads to a man).

As larynx-lacerating frontman Damian Alexander said in our cover story of two weeks back (nzherald.co.nz/music), "There's a lot of positive messages on the album, it's not all, 'Life sucks, grrrr!"'

But if there's catch to Blindspott, it's that it does life-sucks-grrrr so much better. Their occasional forays into the reflective, both musically and lyrically, can sound variously earnest, wishy-washy or overwrought. Especially on the likes of the relatively epic Plastic Shadow, the PG-rated Linkin Park, of Lit Up, the just-say-no anthem of Blank.

Still, when the going gets tough, as on the murderous singles,as well as the highly explosive Suffocate, the fluidly grooved Room To Breathe and the headbanging-chorused opener Mind Dependency, it's hard not to get caught up in the excitement. Or see the reason why Blindspott aren't already roaring from 15,000 (and counting) teenage bedrooms the length of the country.

Label: EMI