BASED in London, Gengahr have been fawned over by musos since the emergence of their earliest material and they’ve been subject of comparisons to all manner of the world’s greatest alternative guitar bands ranging from old guard such as Radiohead to modern trailblazers including Foals and Alt-J. However, it most certainly wouldn’t be the first time that a band has wilted and failed to take the strain that expectation is likely to bring and have tragically ended up squandering what looked like a prosperous future in the hopes of appeasing the fans and blogs that initially inflated their self-worth.

In the case of Gengahr’s gorgeous debut A Dream Outside, nothing could be further from the truth; instead continuing to follow their vision and in doing so they have produced a phenomenal record.

The swirling opening strains of ‘Dizzy Ghosts’ neatly sets the tone for a record that regularly touches on ethereality and shoegaze lathered beauty amid its more prominent riffs and other assorted instrumentation.  The track soon mutates into an absolute alt-rock behemoth after the initial chords, doused in heavily distorted guitar and momentous percussion that recalls Billy Corgan’s Smashing Pumpkins at the peak of their powers.

‘She’s A Witch’ remains every bit as arresting and its charm continues to shine through when aligned with the rest of their material, incorporating a wide range of influences drawn from contemporaries such as Mac Demarco and Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s earlier releases; they establish an opaque aesthetic over a fascinating pop foundation. Driven by a the genuinely enrapturing falsetto vocals of Felix Bushe; it’s true apex comes during the kind of meandering yet incendiary solo that they’re so adept at seamlessly including in their tracks during an era in which they can often come across as unnecessary or at worst self-indulgent.

‘Heroine’ soon follows, maintaining the momentum that is established during the album’s early purple patch. With chords that venture over to bands such as Dinosaur Jr and a more sedate take on grunge archetypes Green River, ‘Heroine’ is deeply tender and even contains fleeting allusions towards doo-wop within its vocal patterns and melodies.

Intensifying at around the two minute mark, it takes on a more visceral form than what is initially laid out, rivalling Interpol or The Yeah Yeah Yeahs for intensity and engagement.

‘Bathed In Light’ and its woozy textures enable Gengahr to slyly lure the listener in, never deviating from the slender, groove-based sound that is established near the outset. Awash with reverb and other studio trickery, the all too brief use of warped and manipulated organ adds a hint of instability to proceedings, ensuring that things never get too docile or overtly complacent.

The submerged bass and intricate rhythms of ‘Where I Lie’ produce a strident sound before its guitar riff and subsequent licks land somewhere between Radiohead’s The Bends era and the 90’s FM rock facet of REM’s music; whereas the up-tempo instrumental ‘Dark Star’ and its circuitous mannerisms sees the band stretching themselves as musicians in a fashion that is incredibly daring and admirably bold on a debut record.

The intoxicating  ‘Embers’ soon surges into life, drenched in wah-wah guitar and possessing some of the most insistent drumming that can be seen anywhere on the LP. There seems to be an inner conflict within Gengahr’s material that is most definitely prominent on this track, as they seem to harbour the highly strung tendencies of a more blatantly explosive rock band despite their penchant for nebulous and hazy sound-scapes amidst distinctly poppy songwriting. Luckily for them, it is in no way to their detriment and acts as one of the many pivotal elements which make A Dream Outside such a thoroughly enjoyable listen; as they constantly teeter between influences and concepts whilst maintaining a level of adroitness that many bands clamour for yet never truly capture.

The mystifying ‘Powder’ intermingles fuzz-laden guitar with more abstract moments, resulting in it residing similar territory to some of the less brazen compositions on Tame Impala’s Innerspeaker.

The looming sound of  ‘Fill My Gums With Blood’ is soon aided by folk-centric guitar and one of Bushe’s most powerful vocal performances, before ‘Lonely As A Shark’ and ‘Trampoline’ effectively deliver a delightful one-two punch that bring the album to a psychedelia-laced climax that only serves to add to the many feathers in this record’s cap.

A stunning album that veers from ornate and tenuous to bombastic and expansive at the drop of a hat, they’ve completely extirpated any concerns that they would perhaps not be able to live up to the lofty expectations that early expectations helped birth. A Dream Outside seems to be the genesis of a band with the kind of longevity and wealth of creativity that too few bands can muster.