Chief are made up of brothers; Danny and Michael Fujikawa (vocals, guitar and drums), Evan Koga (vocals, guitar) and Mike Moonves (bass). Two years ago they finished New York University and returned home to the U.S. west coast with their suitcases full of soaring melodies, lovelorn lyrics and heart stopping harmonies.

Chief are here to release their debut album, Modern Rituals, which is thematic in its tales of romantic disappointments, left lovers and wallowing emotions. Consisting of 11 tracks, this is an easy listening album albeit a little depressing in places but this can be forgiven with the stunning vocals and guitar riffs which bring these songs to life.

A lot of the tracks on this album merge into one and all have a very similar sound to each other. There are a couple of songs that do stand out though and worth a mention, in ‘Breaking Walls’ and ‘Summer’s Day’.

‘Breaking Walls’ is an emotional song, especially with the staccato on guitar running throughout the duration of this track. It’s a familiar feeling kind of song and makes you feel warm inside. I love the melodic chorus too.

The beat on ‘Summer’s Day’ is catchy and light with a feel good vibe about it. This mixed with the rough and ready vocals really make this song stand out. Superb.

Although not a bad album at all, stay away if you are going through a bad time in your relationship or have in fact just broken up. This certainly won’t help matters.

7

Helena Rea