Well, not new in the traditional sense - this one was released months ago and I’ve had it in my collection since the release, but I finally got to take Dead Marines’ New Day for a long walk today in my iPod. It’s one of those albums - it requires some focused listening time, because it’s not going to bash its way into the foreground. It makes good background listening but you’d be doing yourself a favour if you take it for a long walk, as the musicianship and songwriting are top-class.

It sounds like three guys with guitars sitting down and making some music together, the sort of serendipity that sometimes happens at a barbeque or in a pub. That’s because it’s basically that - Brendan Gallagher, Bow Campbell and Bernie Hall have been friends for some time and, as they put it, most of these songs have been, “refracted through the prism of a wine bottle or three.”

The band’s name comes from a story where shortly after receiving his promotion to rear admiral in 1790, William IV, known as the ‘Sailor King’, was at dinner on board one of his fleet’s ships. He ordered the steward to remove the ‘dead marines’ to make room for new bottles. After a complaint from a marine officer, His Highness responded that no offence was intended. The expression was used in the sense “…that, like marines, the bottle had given its life nobly and, given the chance, would do it again.

Not overproduced, not over-reaching, just toe-tapping goodness, a bit of light and shade, and a nip of wry humour. Dead Marines can be purchased online from distributor Vitamin.