Aerial Salad - Ideal World

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.

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