Eight years in the making, the latest offering from Canadian psych-pop exponent, The Coast, is the band’s debut album Expatriate. The sound has been honed on the burgeoning Canadian ‘indie’ scene and it has actually taken the quartet no less than two and a half years to produce an album through the rather brave Aporia Records, which has seemingly aided and abetted its survival in the meantime.

Still, when the end result is as good as Expatriate is, then its shades of the New Zealand Finn brothers (Crowded House et al), the hints of Mercury Rev, perhaps even a soupcon of New Order and even Arcade Fire mean that this is a band that knows its place and breeds on that edgy familiarity, which is neither mainstream nor underground. However, I believe that rather than hovering on the peripheries of recognition, this album will do well for these Canadian good old boys.

The delightful vocals of Ben Spurr are matched only by his exceptional guitar talents and those of his band members, Ian Fosbery (guitars), Luke Melchoirre (bass) and his brother Jordan (drums). Of course central to any potential success will lie exposure on radio and, although it has not happened as yet, it is only a matter of time before The Coast is featured on ‘Whispering’ Bob’s Saturday night Radio Two show, or catches the ear of some of the other leading producers on network UK radio. These guys have served their time. They are journeymen and their education is all but complete.

The harmonies are pleasing, the melodies delightful and there is a satisfying mix of well-produced rock numbers and gentle, haunting ballads in this fine album of hook-laden plushness. I am told that the band is fantastic live and that its recorded performance is not dissimilar to what fans in Canada and North America have already experienced, which should bode well for a strong career in Europe. There is a wonderful giving ‘feel’ to this debut album that warrants its inclusion in the pop libraries of musical aficionados.

Iain Robertson