A by-product of 2020’s forced lockdown, and its insistence that we all stay indoors and watch repeats, meant that those of us who bet on Pave The Jungle to break out this year have to hope that our bookies accept our demands for ‘null and void’. Or that they’ll move the dates on the betting slip. Or that they have common sense and will just pay out. Because, as Ants proves, whether it happens in the remainder of this year, or if we have to wait til 2021, Pave The Jungle are one of the serious ‘ones’ to watch. Already with the ‘Bunnymen cool-and-we-know-it aesthetic, and the layers of alternative/gothic guitars, and the PJ Harvey meets Jeff Buckley vocals, what Ants gives us is evidence that Pave write about actual ‘things’; theirs is the intellect and comfort to write snappy rock/pop narratives which fit alongside their image and musicianship. If you’re bookie hasn’t stopped taking bets on them, put some money down quickly.