Aerial Salad - Ideal World Aerial Salad

Manchester trio Aerial Salad were born out of a dare. At The Fest in Gainesville, Florida, in 2016, Jamie Munro and Mike Wimbleton asked the organiser if they could play. His reply: start a band first. They did, came back the next year, and fell apart onstage on borrowed gear. That humbling night became their making.

The 2020 debut 'Dirt Mall' fused Leatherface, Green Day, Oasis and US underground punk into a thrilling rush. 2024's ROI distilled from a lockdown flood of songs, put paid to any second-album syndrome, and also introduced new drummer Jake Marshall.

Third album Ideal World is their finest yet. Dynamically and lyrically razor-sharp, it's a clear-eyed look at a divided, misinformed, phone-addled UK. Munro credits learning The Smiths' 'The Headmaster Ritual' with opening up a new chapter, and Marr-like shimmer runs throughout the record.

Opener 'Let's Change Our Lives' is the band's anthem, a tribute to finding confidence through music after being told they'd never amount to anything. 'Survive If I Let Ye' takes aim at the British right and 'Live Laugh Love' culture; 'This Year' skewers doomscrolling; 'From The Same Cloth' finds peace in being yourself; 'Ythere' watches fascism wash up on our shores, and asks how we gave in so fast; and keyboard-led 'Devil At A Loss' reveals a crooner somewhere between Morrissey and Nick Cave.

"Our band's aspirational," says Munro, "driven by frustration, trying to make things right."