A new band has arrived from across the pond thanks to the miracle of YouTube. Unlike those talentless hacks in One Direction, this music is actually good.

Bad Blood is the debut album of YouTube sensation Bastille, pronounced “bass-teal” for those of you who don’t speak French. It features the hit single “Pompeii,” which has over 45 million views on YouTube.

How good can a British band named after a French prison with a song about an Italian city be? Quite good actually. I usually abhor modern popular music, as it consists of repetitive dance club beats with horrendous vocals and lyrics that contain no substance to them whatsoever.
After listening to this album, I am glad to say that good music hasn’t been drowned out by the general populace’s admiration for cookie cutter love songs and self-empowerment tunes like “Roar” by Katy Perry. This is definitely not a typical pop album with a British accent slapped on it to make a cheap buck.

These songs have lyrical depth and retell stories of various mythologies as well as other subject matter. There is even a song about a character from the old TV show “Twin Peaks.” Greek mythology is told in “Icarus” and Christian myth in “Daniel in the Den.” The majority of these songs are good, but every rose has it’s thorn.

Slow, high-pitched, mushy songs make up about one-fourth of the tracks, mostly occurring in the second half of the album. Luckily, two of the worst songs on the album are back to back for your skipping convenience. “Oblivion” and “Flaws” are examples of what I absolutely despise about the current music scene. Both are sappy love songs with ear-smashingly annoying vocals and instrumentation that tries to be much more than it is.

This album comes with three bonus tracks as well, but those range from decent to outright disappointing. If the bonus tracks were not there, the final song would’ve dragged the quality of the album down even more than it already does.

All in all, this album is a very nice change from the bass-bashing, screechy-voiced music on the radio today. If you like heavier, more meaningful songs with just a dash of techno or classical instrument, buy this album. If you don’t, still check it out.