REVIEW: 'This Better Be Something Great,' the newest release from Manchester outfit Westside Cowboy

Westside Cowboy has been one to watch since they arrived on the scene in 2023. They've amassed an impressive horde of fans since the release of their first single and have already played Glastonbury Festival as a result of winning the 2025 Emerging Talent Competition. The release of This Better Be Something Great, their debut EP, has been greatly anticipated. 

Their sound is fresh and familiar, with the band describing it as Britainicana: American roots music reinterpreted through a very English lens, and it’s not static. This Better Be Something Great tries to race against itself, but not in a way that leaves you behind, and the points at which they do slow down, you feel it. Grounded lyricism has you yearning for mundane and mystical things, from bus routes to the sea, to, of course, cowboys. 

The EP opens with a howl Jason Derulo would be proud of, exclaiming their own name before jumping straight in with a cacophony of drums, cymbals, and guitars. We're told 'This'll work for now,' as we enter their world with a moreish taste for what's in store. 

Everything suddenly gets quieter, more intentional, simply to rise again, addictively, ferrying us to the chorus. The two vocals work in total harmony, leading to layered shouting and fervent singing. The song is full of yearning: 'But that type of luck don't happen to blokes like me,' and 'Remember the scene / The place you loved so violently,' and 'I've never found someone I could love better than you.' It's a roaring yet reflective opening, made to be shouted, lest everything falls apart. 

'Alright Alright Alright' is where the cowboys come into play. A deliciously western song, detailing an imagined life as a cowboy who is missing his love, set against a steady tempo. Like the lyrics, it's a gunslinging and horse riding sound accompanied by fuzzy guitars. Though it's short, every second is used to its fullest. ‘Alright Alright Alright’ is primal, almost violent, but you can't help but want to join in until you're tapped out. 

Drums begin the next track, 'Drunk Surfer', setting the pace for every other instrument to sound bright and hopeful as they're introduced. This is juxtaposed by the lyrics, which tell the story of a painful breakup. The vocals escape through gritted teeth, quiet, so as not to scare away the person leaving: 'You're scaring me now / You and every bone in my body / Looks for the quickest way out'. 

The band's lyricism gets the chance to shine here as you have to strain to hear the words: 'And we can dance and pretend like it's good for us / While razors line the skirting boards and the door is boarded up.' By the end, the vocals are shouts with a spoken-word indie, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah-inspired backdrop, ultimately leading the song to end abruptly. 

'Shells' opens tentatively, taking great care to state that 'This better be something great,' as quiet reflection takes the reins: 'In that time I could have died and felt perfectly alive,' and 'Done enough in my life to deserve the air I breathe.' In just a few moments, it all becomes ear-splitting, smashing the start like a piece of fine china. They manage to strike the balance between being a perfect Americana slacker song and the worst noise rock you've ever heard, and that's where the strength of Westside Cowboy lives: immaculate harmony that could ruin itself if given the slightest chance.

'Slowly I'm Sure' is a love-sick sea shanty of dreams. The end of the song, and thus the EP, is something special, as multiple voices intermingle to create an unforgettable, haunting refrain: 'Slowly I'm waiting / Slowly I'm sure / That you won't love me no more.' This is an achingly beautiful and delicate end, needing only voices and a guitar. 

It's hard not to reference the EP's title when this is, unequivocally, something great. Westside Cowboy have tapped into a sound that marries fresh and familiar at a time alternative indie music needs a rambunctious refresher the most. Each song sounds like they've given it their all, and then some, so all that'll be left over is broken instruments and gunsmoke.