Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 27/10/08
Label: Wichita

Just count the ways there have been to hate this band. The self-consciously-indie über-student septet formed at Cardiff University in 2006 in the modern tradition of excessive collectives (from Belle & Sebastian to Arcade Fire, Architecture In Helsinki and Broken Social Scene) brandishing a sense of entitlement and an especially risible, sour-faced frontman in Gareth Campesinos! who probably owns that "I listen to bands that don't even exist yet" t-shirt and who so fancied himself as successor to cult concern Eddie Argos of Art Brut it's a wonder he didn't name himself Gareth Screwfix Catalogue! just to be that touch more DIY.

On their debut album, "Hold On Now, Youngster…", the non-stop thesaurus-gargling ridiculousness of his lyrical anti-literacy clashed messily with the clanking, aimless hedonism of the band, none of whom particularly excelled and attempted to compensate with shapeless vigour. The effort was commendable enough, but when there were flashes of inspiration they got smothered under stacks of shonky power-chords, anaemic fiddle and karaoke shouting of multi-syllabic refrains. For anyone who grew up watching hyperactive summer hols kids TV show "Why Don't You?", this is surely what happens when you add alcopops and shared digs.

Re-emerging after a mere eight month gestation with their second album (they're referring to it as an extended EP just to be difficult, but whatever), the only natural assumption would be that the whirlwind of inconsistency smashes on unabated. And in some respects it does, but key to this record's fortunes is a sense that first they're running out of ideas and second have chilled their bones to become less rigidly obsessed with quantity and cleverness and proving their self-worth. Either way, rather than resulting in a thinning quality this has allowed their fussy songs room to breathe and for the cream to ultimately rise to the top.

The vastly enhanced production bumps quaking opener "Ways To Make It Through The Wall" to erupt like a flaming Peter Bjorn & John cannonball, singeing to ashes the accusation that they drown in a sea of twee every time they set foot in their rehearsal studio. "Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown #1" is Pavement jousting with The Concretes and the frankly gorgeous "Miserabilia" explodes like the figurative firework climax of a Kim Deal-lead Pixies pop incendiary. Beautiful? Increasingly so. Doomed? Not so much. Creatively they seem to be ageing like felines and at this rate by just after Christmas it's not out of the question that they could become a world beating force.

    by James Berry