Catfish and the Bottlemen - The Balcony (2014)

British indie rock outfit Catfish and the Bottlemen formed in Llandudno, Wales. The band started out in 2010 when Aussie-born vocalist Van McCann started playing with guitarist Bill Bibby and bassist Benji Blakeway. Not content with playing covers, the four-piece holed up in a soundproofed room in McCann's family B&B, where they sowed the seeds of their gritty garage rock sound. They began to attract fans through their guerilla D.I.Y. gigs in car parks prior to shows, and in 2011 they played a rain-soaked evening in Manchester prior to a sold-out Kasabian performance while friends handed out free copies of their demo. Their D.I.Y. ethic led them to play over 250 official and unofficial events in 2012 and the first half of 2013 before they eventually signed to Mumford & Sons' Ben Lovett's Communion Records. They released three singles with that label before moving to Universal in 2014, which planned to release their debut album, The Balcony, later that year, including the Jim Abbiss-produced single "Kathleen."