If generic stable mates Gaslight Anthem are heavily defined by their adoration to a very definite era of Springsteen, Fire In The Radio seem more defined by the city that they are from, the city that has of late brought us The Menzingers, Beach Slang, Modern Baseball and adopted Girlpool as their own. That city is, of course, Philadelphia. So if one city seems to be single-handedly putting guitar bands front and centre, Fire in The Radio are certainly an important part of that movement.
Whilst it is easy to pick apart the music to see what makes it tick, it is how they blend these elements together that makes it stand apart from their fellow musical travellers. It is their ability to treat the subgenres of rock as mere colours on their sonic palette and blend the urgency of hardcore, the jarring dynamics and melancholy of emo and the theatrics of heartland rock that marks them out as ones to watch.
This is a band that indeed seems to believe in everything: the raw gut-punch of punk, the catharsis and euphoria of stadium rock, the necessity of looking backward whilst moving forward. In the hands of inferior musicians, that commitment to indulging all these beliefs would result in disaster. Here, it makes for one hell of a ride.
