Grateful for this review of ‘Eyes Wide Open’ by Gigslutz:

There’s a moment, usually right before a band properly breaks through, where everything suddenly clicks into place. The songs get sharper. The swagger grows louder. The choruses start sounding like they belong to far bigger rooms than the ones they’re currently playing. For Essex indie upstarts Monumental, that moment feels like it’s happening right now.

New single “Eyes Wide Open” is an absolute rocket of a record. Four minutes of youthful frustration, restless ambition and pure indie adrenaline delivered with the kind of confidence most bands spend years trying to fake. Monumental don’t fake it. They mean every second of this.

From the opening beat, the track bursts into life with snarling guitars, pounding drums and a rhythm section that refuses to sit still. There’s a real urgency to it all, but crucially, it never loses sight of melody. Huge choruses are sprayed everywhere like confetti. The hooks land instantly. By the final refrain, you’re already halfway through convincing yourself you’ve known the song for years.

Frontman Finn Sexton delivers one of his strongest vocal performances to date, balancing attitude and vulnerability perfectly. There are flashes of early Libertines looseness, hints of Catfish and the Bottlemen’s widescreen energy, and that unmistakable mod-inspired swagger running through its veins. Yet Monumental still sound unmistakably like Monumental. That’s the clever bit.

Lyrically, Eyes Wide Open taps into the universal feeling of wanting more from life than the hand you’ve been dealt. It’s about escape, identity and refusing to settle into the grey monotony modern life can throw at young people. But despite that frustration, the track never feels heavy. Instead, it feels liberating. It’s the sound of four lads kicking against the walls and enjoying every second of it.

And what really makes this single stand out is how alive it feels. You can practically hear the sweat dripping from the rehearsal room walls. There’s no overthinking here. No polishing away the rough edges. Monumental understand something a lot of modern indie bands forget: rock and roll should feel dangerous, exciting and a little bit out of control.

Considering the band only formed in late 2023 after Finn was spotted busking in Southend High Street, the speed of their rise has been ridiculous. BBC Introducing support, major festival slots, a growing grassroots following and now a debut EP on the horizon. But Eyes Wide Open feels like the moment Monumental stop being “ones to watch” and start looking like genuine contenders.

If this single is anything to go by, their forthcoming EP could be one of the standout indie releases of the summer.

Loud, ambitious and packed with genuine heart, Eyes Wide Open is exactly what modern British guitar music should sound like in 2026.

Monumental aren’t just turning heads anymore. They’re kicking the bloody door down.

Gigslutz