Welsh rockers hit number one in album chart

Welsh rockers Those Damn Crows have achieved their first UK number one in the album chart.

The five-piece band's record God Shaped Hole beat competition from the likes of Sabrina Carpenter and Sam Fender to secure the top spot in the Official Charts based on sales.

"This is absolutely insane," said singer Shane Greenhall in a post on Instagram in which he thanked fans for the "huge reward" after "10 years of sticking with us".

"That's why it means so much - it hasn't happened at the start of our career. We've been working so hard behind the scenes for multiple years," he added.

Greenhall said the band began performing together as teenagers, jamming with older musicians at gigs around south Wales.

"There were jam nights all around the Bridgend area, down in Porthcawl, Port Talbot, Neath, Cardiff, Swansea, so from a young age we were going," he said.

"It was a hotbed for rock music in general."

The band from Bridgend started in 2014 and got their name from drummer Ronnie Huxford after hearing his father shouting about birds in his garden.

"We loved the thought, you know, playing loud music and the neighbours next door shouting, banging on the walls, 'those damn crows'," Greenhall told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast on Friday just hours before their chart success was confirmed.

The band's highest charting record prior to their latest effort was 2023's Inhale/Exhale which reached number three.

Those Damn Crows are currently on a tour of record stores to promote the album ahead of a UK and European tour.