Spectrals - Bad Penny

There have been a lot of bands springing up this up year with surf-rock tinged guitars, and whilst many are fun, few are as intimate as Spectrals on their new album, Bad Penny. The fact they hail from West Yorkshire gives the album a real sense of day dreaming, evoking a longed for escape which, in today’s political climate, is always welcome.

Spectrals’ withdrawn approach to the hazy beach sound often lends itself to comparisons with the San Francisco band Girls’ 2009 debut ‘Album’ (no, really, it’s called Album) as they plod gloriously through their sunshine grooves. However, scratch the surface and all is not as happy as it may first appear as the entire album centers around Louis Jones’ ex and how she consumes his every thought and action. Behind every whimsical riff lies a lyric of confusion and unrequited love.

Standing head and shoulders above all is the track Big Baby. This is an out and out Phi Spector masterpiece. Sometimes an act comes along and mentions influences which leave you thinking “you don’t get it at all”. Well, not here. The spirit of the Shirelles and Ronettes will have a long and prosperous future due to the Spectrals’ flare to combine 60s girl groups with indie pop.

Lockjaw and Many Happy Returns show their Yorkshire heritage with a nod to Richard Hawley’s recent work on Coles Corner and Lady’s Bridge. TT believes that the Yorkshire connection is crucial to why Spectrals are great. They are the link between the Arctic Monkeys to the surf rock trends of today that many have been looking for.

Yes, escapist beach anthems are great but history has proven that British folk love their pop music with grit and heartache like the Monkeys served up on their debut. That is exactly what the Spectrals deliver.

 

Spectrals - Big Baby by Spectrals

Spectrals - Get A Grip by Spectrals

To Kill A King - My Crooked Saint

Communion Records continue to discover acts reinventing the folk wheel and To Kill A King are the perfect example. Championed by Laura Marling, the queen of folk herself, TKAK release the highly emotive EP, My Crooked Saint, on the 17th October.

On the opener Bloody Shirt, TKAK have taken The Cure at their downbeat best on Lullaby and twisted them with the bittersweet melodies of John Martyn. This approach feels so fresh it is going to make the big industrial noise of Editors and White Lies a thing of the past. 

If Bloody Shirt feels like a smooth gear-shift away from the big indie bands around, then We Used To Protest/Gamble is like getting a mushroom on Mariokart away from them. Ever wondered what it is about the Chapel Club that’s missing? Well, it’s this. Chapel Club are a good band - make no mistake, but To Kill A King don’t need a rabble-rousing chorus to convey their love and hurt. Straight from the off, they are tugging on the heartstrings and then subsequently building on the nagging feeling they place in your hearts.

Family is TKAK's epic number which builds and builds until a crescendo of beauty at the end. On the surface, this track is most likely to be the newcomer’s way in due to its great simplicity, but the lyrics are on a whole other level. The words on this track will have fans shouting "Yes! Yes! This is how it is for me!" as they convey the underlying (and rarely spoken) love/hate relationships people have with their families. The music press will never recognise this as a social commentary of the same ilk as Cigarettes & Alcohol or London Calling but Travellers Tunes is sure this will resonate with most people.

In an interview recently, Paddy Considine said he would definitely direct a film with Shane Meadows within the next 10 years. TT hopes they listen to My Crooked Saint when they do so. The amount of warmth and pain conjured up on this EP is enough for the gritmasters of film to sink their teeth into and create something equally as pure and compelling.



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