Afflecks Palace
What Do You Mean It's Not Raining?

"Guitar music is dead".

This is what these guys were told when they went around presenting their music.

This happened until a couple of years ago.

Then the breakthrough. They got signed, and from there, thanks only to word of mouth, it has been an ascent: a couple of EPs and now, finally, the debut album. Preceded and followed by two UK sold-out tours.

The Afflecks Palace are a very young band from that wonderful and unparalleled place (yes, I am shamelessly biased) which is Manchester, and after all, the name they chose leaves no room for doubt, just like the label that signed them, Spirit of Spike Island.

You look at them and listen, and you are magically transported to 1989. The unquestionable and inevitable comparison is with the Stone Roses, but they have managed to pair their personality and being children of the new millennium.

The album, What Do You Mean It's Not Raining?, is a triumph of guitars, crystal-clear, catchy melodies, sometimes melancholic. Almost every track could be a single: Pink Skies (for which an acid house remix has also been made), Ripley Jean with a rather sad lyric but lively melody and a great instant nostalgia video, We Can Be The Avalanche, the best track according to the writer.

An album that goes down like a gin&tonic, hypnotizes, takes you back to a musically magical period, but without ever risking sounding like a cover. The guys play excellently, and everything is harmonious and fresh. Cheerful and urgent as every debut should be.

For me, it's already the album of the year.

I add that I had the chance to exchange a few words privately on social media with J. Fender, the voice and the mind, and he is extremely funny and "cheeky".

Listen to it, everyone.