TV21 - Forever 22

(Powbeat)

Back in 1981, Edinburgh’s TV21 were poised to stand alongside Scots post-punk giants (i.e. Simple Minds and The Skids) after their debut LP, A Thin Red Line garnered rave reviews. However, things took a downturn for the power-pop outfit and they subsequently splintered.

An astonishing 28 years later, Norman Rodger, Ally Palmer, Neil Baldwin and newbie drummer Simon McGlynn get around to a sophomore set, poignantly entitled ‘Forever 22’. With retroid hooklines/riffs intact, tracks such as ‘One Day In’, ‘Summertime’, ‘Look to the Sun’ and the Eddie & the Hot Rods-esque ‘How Did You Get it So Wrong?’ create a sense of déjà vu that compares with classic debut nugget ‘Snakes And Ladders’ – now featured as one of eight bonus tracks.