have been proposed as a band of exceptional promise ever since their debut single ‘I’ve Never Met Anyone I Thought I Could Really Love (Until I Met You)’ was released in 2024. Since then, the band has triumphed as a proprietor of a youthful and energetic return to fabulously catchy and simple indie rock, carried by an unmistakable band chemistry that translates seamlessly onto their recordings, as well as their live performances. They all sing together, in perfect harmony, often building their tracks to great crescendos, starting slow and finishing at the peak of a sonic mountain. Their tricks are simple; they don’t use too many chords, yet they sound more original and authentic than most, much like many great bands before them.
This praise is not lost on their first full-length album, ‘It Goes On’, which is an unapologetic 11-track declaration of a young band getting their first record off their chest. Their image is that of transparency and vulnerability, expressed passionately both lyrically and through instrumentation that conveys angst, frustration, and the feeling of running into the future head-on, albeit a bit frightful of what’s ahead. The first single ‘Kick Stones (The Boys)’ is a pretty perfect encapsulation of the band’s mission. Beyond impeccable musicality, the song is brimming with astute social consciousness and the constant feeling of foreboding in the modern day, boiled down into structurally concrete and catchy alternative rock music. Westside Cowboy have always been far from apolitical, well-known for their engagement in the Manchester-based collective No Band Is An Island, who put on fundraiser gigs spotlighting local bands, guest speakers, and direct action groups. Further singles ‘Pin Up Boys’ and ‘Dobro’ display the band’s ability to switch up primary vocal duties and deliver their signature style whilst always keeping the next track fresh. These singles appear to blend a clear influence of age-old indie rock like , with much more pertinent folk influences that have inspired many new alternative bands, such as and .
As for the album tracks, the essence of Gen-Z anxiety is laid bare on ‘Worried Age’, in which poetic lyrics remark that ‘We are a worried age, where your panic feels more real than a thought, and the vivid dreams of a careless death, it eats, it sleeps, and it walks’. Furthermore, on a track like ‘Coyote’, a joyous and uplifting musical accompaniment is coupled with the words “the trees are turning red, and the rocks here have grown hands, to hold knives and guns and poison, to strangle the people’s man.” This music has meaning beyond a simple indie rock rhetoric. Perhaps twenty years prior, your new favourite indie rock band sang about a storied night out on the town. Well, they now write about the destruction of planet Earth, and existential anxiety surrounding the future. These little album gems are further proof of Westside Cowboy’s positioning in the alternative music sphere, with the authenticity and purity of heart in their music shining brightly throughout the record.
This record isn’t a perfect, finished article, nor a record with any grandiose concept it is trying to push. Instead, everything from the artwork, to the lyrics, to the twangy guitars and the band’s appearance, speaks to either an accidental (or impeccably well-crafted) image of a classic, no-frills indie band. There are multiple moments throughout this album where, if played loud enough, you feel as if you are in the room with them, your head inside the hurricane frenzy that this band is so competent operating within. I have a funny feeling this record will become a storied triumph of the so-called ‘worried age.’
8/10