Despite early comparisons to fellow London bands Shame and Goat Girl, Sorry’stake on guitar music is markedly different. Led by songwriting duo Asha Lorenz and Louis O’Bryen, their music has little regard for genre conventions. A sludgy bricolage that gleefully pulls from pop, post-punk, grunge and jazz, it’s a unique, intoxicating brand of indie rock, and Lorenz and O’Bryen’s apathetic vocal stylings pull their limitless sound together.

Brimming with ideas and unwavering confidence, their first full-length album 925 expands on the promise of their demos. ‘Starstruck’ remains the shining example of their capabilities. The closest Sorry have come to an outright pop smash, sharp, jagged guitars intertwine while Lorenz spins a tale of infatuation with a trademark shrug (“You’re the looker, liquor, sugar / And I’m the rotten apple of your eye”). Elsewhere, ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’ and ‘Right Round The Clock’ deconstruct the fantasies of celebrity over sleazy saxophones; the latter even features a droll interpolation of Tears For Fears’ ‘Mad World’ (“I’m feeling kinda crazy, I’m feeling kinda mad / The dreams in which we’re famous are the best I’ve ever had”).

Amongst the sardonicism are some surprisingly beautiful moments. ‘Heather’ is a folksy romp designed for picturesque summer evenings with its rusty guitars and joyful brass. Accompanied by an angelic choir, Lorenz searches for happiness in dark times on ‘Ode To Joy’ (“This is an ode to joy / ’Cause there is no joy”), while ‘As The Sun Sets’ delves into psychedelia with its glistening synths and towering drums. The shifts in genre or tone don’t feel forced or incoherent, nor do the interjections of glitchy electronics or reverberant sax. In fact, they help to submerge us further into Sorry’s fragmented world, and heightens the inherent strangeness of their songs.

925 is an exciting debut, and one that’ll keep you guessing with each song. Sorry’s cooler-than-thou demeanour slightly dampens the emotion at the core of the album, but it’s more than compensated for by their unrestrained creativity, bold production and sharp, clever songwriting. (8/10) (Matty Watkin)

Listen to 925 by Sorry here via Spotify, and tell us what you think below!