Relish - Karma Calling

EMI - 2003 - 46 minutes

While some of their retro riffing may not rock everyone's world, Relish's follow-up to their big-in-Japan - Belgium, Thailand and Hong Kong - debut 'Wildflowers' is hard not to take a shine and smile to.

Surviving a title track that's a little too down with Rage Against the Machine's 'Killing in the Name' not to make you queasy, they also get away with mixing up styles because none of them sound like between-single filler and the class of singer Ken Papenfus throughout.

It's their softer and sassier sides that work best with 'Be My Friend' and 'Don't Say Goodbye' deserving to go the same rapid radio route as 'Let it Fly' and 'Rainbow Zephyr' from the first album. However accomplished they are as musicians, turning down the production and gritting the grooves a little more, could lead them to audience who know a whole different take on the word 'players'. As they'd no doubt agree, what goes around comes around.

Harry Guerin

Tracklisting: I've Got the Sun - Get Down, Move Over - In Every Man There is a Child - Karma Calling - Don't Say Goodbye - Universe in Your Eyes - Don't Let Go - Friend - Honey (One Million Smiles) - Father, Brother, Lover & Son - Hope - Satellites and Broken Chimes