by We live in troubled times, and out of troubled times youth movements are formed. Thatcher’s Britain spawned the 1979 mod revival with kids looking for an identity with direction – angry punks with more style, and riding scooters! All the major cities in the UK had mod revival movements fuelled by politically left leaning, anti-government figure heads like Paul Weller and The Jam who sang about working-class life, social divisions, and opposition to the establishment.
Skip forward to 2026 and whilst the government has changed, at least in terms of the party name, the feeling is very much the same. Young people are angry and are looking for direction, music no longer feeds or inspires the desire for social change and it feels the perfect time for a new revival.
If there is one band who could lead that revival, it is Sharp Class.
This is raw, important music with urgency which captures superbly the sound of the previous decades whilst managing to be unique. I wrote of Sharp Class before that it is difficult to pinpoint a single influence in their music, more that it sounds like an entire movement. If the expected mid 2020s mod revival does take off, it will be in no small part to this band.
Faith In The Brakes is out now to buy or stream on most platforms, and is available to order on 7″ vinyl from Heavy Soul Records. Be quick though, the vinyl is limited to 250 copies only.
Faith In The Brakes starts strongly with the opening chords smashing into the scene setting guttural engine sound guitars. It immediately blends the best of Ocean Colour Scene, Ordinary Boys and Brit Pop with earlier mod revival bands such as The Chords and Purple Hearts, with the energy non stop for the entire 3 minutes. Chord progression and vocals are perfect – for music to be successful in a youth movement it needs to have identity, and this has it in bucketloads.
The AA side Stick To Your Guns carries on in a similar vein and opens with a bass line riff which immediately gets the fingers clicking. After drums are introduced and, yes, a cow bell(!), the lead guitar takes over and it’s a real crowd pleaser. It’s a punchy power pop song destined to become a classic with even hints of American garage punk sound thrown in.
A new album of the same name is planned for later this year and honestly, if this release is a taste of things to come, we are in for something very special indeed.
