With huge crashing guitar riffs, frenetic drum patterns and big glorious pop hooks; Grace Solero deal in ragged indie power pop, the sound of Patti Smith being menaced by Soundgarden down some dark alley. On their debut long player NEW MOON the band deliver dark pop thrills thick and fast over twelve songs that grab you by the throat and refuse to ever let go.

Opening with IF U FEEL, the band stake their claim as future pop stars; a song dripping with attitude, energy and catchy hooks. Frontwoman Grace Solero purrs along with rock menace whilst guitarist Dan weaves fuzzy guitar magic, propelling you along and leaving you breathless and happy. The scrappy drum patterns and ragged guitar work of NEW PLACE find Grace Solero coming across like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs schooled by Soundgarden, all insistent melody, dark lyricism and slinky production.

I DON'T is an overwrought ballad that shows off the power and range of Solero's impressive voice, her vocals veering between melodramatic croon and wailing howl; equal parts Jeff Buckley, Robert Plant and Patti Smith.

The mournful guitar work on STAR lend Grace Solero a melancholic edge that only adds to their appeal, the vocals again proving one of this bands real strengths. APARTHEID is a more rocking, muscular affair, the band showing off their dirtier, grungy side; echoes of Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Mother Love Bone in the lurching guitar riffs and powerful drum patterns.

The feedback drenched NO MORE TEARS carries on in the same vein whilst DIARY and TROOPS veer towards more complex directions, shifting song structures and male/female vocal interplay keeping things interesting.

Proving they can also do slow burning menace, CALL TO ME is a moodily atmospheric song that finds a sensuous sounding Solero crooning effectively; all dark tension bubbling just beneath the surface. Closing number, the acoustic based HEAL ME finds Grace Solero again showing off that impressive voice, the songs sparser arrangements really allowing her to let loose and shine.

NEW MOON is an album that gets under your skin and refuses to leave you, a record with an insistent and infectious feel, a record that demands you sit up and take notice, that you take to your heart and cherish forever. Grace Solero are a band well worth getting very excited about, a glorious sonic collision between the Patti Smith, Jeff Buckley and the Throwing Muses; and a band its going to be impossible to ignore for very much longer.

Grace Solero is an intense, female-fronted band based in London. Their sound is melodic, edgy and energetic rock.

Singer/songwriter Grace moved to London for music, and here she met singer/songwriter Dan, originally from California. They gig both electrically as a four-piece band and acoustically as a duo, creating a show that's intimate and hypnotic. Venues they regularly play in London include the Garage, Metro Club, Dingwalls and 12 Bar Club. The demo version of their song, "If U Feel", was playlisted by Bob Harris on BBC6.

Grace Solero>www.gracesolero.com