Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Pop, it was once insisted, would eat itself.

For some the flesh of the genre might have been stripped down to the core, the power pop of generations past having lost its elasticity fighting for breath in a sea of consumption and want; and then there are those who have defied the argument, and for them it is more than just Old Bones keeping the genre together, it is the soul of appreciation that makes the body full, conversant with the sentiment of the day, and a full formed human observance that makes the songs dance with joy and spirit.

Modern pop is what you make of it, its dynamic has altered, shifted away from its 60s roots, and become less defined, and that, in retrospect is a positive that needs to be embraced if we are to move away from pigeonholing the heart of music into neat and rigid boxes that don’t reflect the honesty of performance in the modern, more fluid world.

What is evident is the parameters have shifted, instead of London being the home to all that considers itself popular, the rest of the country has caught up and overtaken, and by no means no less than deserved in Lincolnshire’s It’s Karma It’s Cool, and as their second digital single from a series of six being released over a few months, Old Bones, shows with relentless emotion. Old bones may be an excuse for others, but for the northeast midlands band it is a statement of pure intent.

You expect nothing less from It’s Karma It’s Cool, the beguiling sense of insight they inhabit, the groove they swing with ease and passion, it is no wonder that the singles keep coming, it is no wonder they always catch the ear in the most definitive way.

Old Bones may be all we have, but it is how they beat on the drum, how they strum the guitar, and how they are used to keep the rhythm of the voice in its prime…and it is always cool and karmic to hear pop defy its own cannibalistic tendencies.

Ian D. Hall