Catfish and the Bottlemen: The Balcony (2LP, 10th anniversary expanded edition, ultra clear vinyl) [ISLAND]

Why you'll love it

This limited 10th anniversary edition spreads The Balcony over two ultra clear LPs in a gatefold jacket with inverted white artwork, adding acoustic versions, the single version of "Rango" and the B-side "ASA." The album is double platinum in the UK and carries nine BPI-certified singles.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Ultra clear vinyl
• 10th anniversary expanded edition
• Limited edition
• Six bonus tracks
• Gatefold jacket
• Pressed in the EU

About the album

Catfish and the Bottlemen started out playing Beatles and Oasis covers in clubs and impromptu gigs in car parks around Llandudno, in north Wales. Seven years of writing their own songs later, Van McCann and company arrived with The Balcony, a debut full of big choruses and everyday observations sung like they mattered more than anything.

Jim Abbiss produced it, and it's wall-to-wall singalongs: "Kathleen" and "Cocoon" are the ones that made them, "Homesick" opens with a rush, and "Pacifier," "Fallout" and "Hourglass" keep the energy up. The bonus sides also carry the "Ewan McGregor" version of "Hourglass," and "ASA" makes it to 12-inch for the first time after a limited 7-inch a decade ago. Every song on the original album came from McCann's pen.

It reached No. 10 in the UK and helped win them the Brit Award for British Breakthrough Act. Not bad for two lads who met through their parents' bed and breakfasts; we've stayed at a few B&Bs and come away with nothing more than a full English.

Also at Kops: more Catfish and the Bottlemen on vinyl · browse Alternative

Tracklist

Listen

On Communion / Island (cat# 6572342), a reissue of the 2014 album.