Jenn Cherene, lead vocalist with this north east four piece has certainly been boning up on Pat Benatar's back catalogue if her excellent performance on the band's debut album is anything to go by.

But sadly, her vocals are where the similarities end. While PB delivers hard driven melodic rock, the melody is, for the most part, missing from Throw Your Light.

Sure, the band power their way through the set, but Graham Haswell's guitar playing is unadventurous and in the rhythm department, drummer 'Phil The Beat' sounds like he's been taking lessons from The Muppets' Animal.

There's a distinct absence of any killer hooks, and while the band have clearly set out to deliver something a little 'different', ultimately Throw Your Light sounds like 'work in progress'. Not enough's made of Jenn's vocals which should be the centre point and further up on the mix at the expense of what, at times, sounds like a 'free for all'.

It would be interesting to see what a big time producer like Kevin Shirley might bring to the show, but ultimately The Karma Heart are going to need better material and more focus. The vocals are great though. Shame.

**

Review by Pete Whalley