Sam Lambeth, Ten Years On Four Chords: The Best Of 2009 – 2019 - album review

The singer and guitarist, whose former bands include The MonoBloggers, Winona and Quinn - who appeared in Unsigned in 2017, has dropped Ten Years On Four Chords: The Best Of 2009 – 2019 to celebrate a decade since his original group released their first record.

It consists of tracks released by all of his previous bands, and holds 17 guitar-fuelled Brit-rock songs sometimes reminiscent of a lovesick teenager trapped in his room and at others a pleasant summer evening stroll along the riverbank.

He himself describes it as “the sterling harmonies of Teenage Fanclub, the pop sensibilities of Paul McCartney and the adventurist alt-rock of R.E.M.”, and this is pretty apt.

There is a lot of fun to be had with Nod My Head from his time with Winona, a bee-bopping rock romp with jangling guitars and sing-along, interactive choruses that emanate sunshine vibes.

There’s something elegantly cool about the distorted guitars for Sixteen Vandals as Lambeth’s almost nasally vocals direct our attention to his story about everything changing. There’s hope behind the pained message as the uplifting nature of the music carries it from start to finish.

The very Interpol-esque opening to I Wasted It, from the Quinn days, opens up into a more expansive Brit-rock sound full of rising vocals and strongly-strummed guitar melodies. Soaring choruses give a carefree impression to that particular band’s work.

Perhaps the finest track here is the lazy sound of Amanda Knocks. Meandering riffs bring back memories of drinking tinnies on the park bench on a Friday night with your schoolmates. Its late summer evening feels fit right in with our current weather and bring hopefulness for the happiest months of the year.

Being super critical, perhaps 17 tracks – and a one-hour-plus run-time – is too long. Particularly when these tracks will be new to many.

But it is a tidy celebration of one of the city’s bright lights in the underground scene over the past decade.

Rating: 6/10

Sam Lambeth will be playing a one-off show to celebrate the collection at Birmingham’s The Victoria on July 12, starting at 7.30pm. Sam will be donating proceeds to Teenage Cancer Trust, while Not Normal Not OK will be present promoting their message of consent and female safety at gigs. Tickets, priced at £5.50, are available here.