While everybody’s musical coming-of-age is different, there are a few loose templates that every teenager seems to stick to when going through theirs.
Some go the emo route, others find an outlet through deathcore, but easily one of the most common paths has to be that of ‘classic’ rock. Coming from a school where everybody seemed to discover The Beatles at round about the same time, I fondly remember the years spent discrediting everything released after the seventies, so immersed were we in our uniformed, musical snobbery.
Of course, I look back on this period with a healthy amount of embarrassment now, while still acknowledging the beauty in it. The reason I’m saying all this is because Talk Talk Talk reminded me exactly why I used to love this music – the endless possibilities it suggested, and how easy it made it seem to start your own band and change the world.
The debut album from Acting Strange is a brilliant pastiche of 60s psychedelia, 70s glam, and more contemporary alternative rock, made distinct through the Strange boys’ idiosyncratic vocal performances.
Recorded on an ever-reliable 8-track, Talk Talk Talk is uncompromising in its garage rock aesthetic. Guitar leads crackle, the fuzz tone sounding like an old Vox amp with the drive cranked up to max; suitably tinny vocals swirl in and out of the mix; the bass frequently threatens to shake your laptop off its desk. It’s the definition of an album that was recorded in somebody’s living room, and perfectly captures the feel of old rock staples like 13th Floor Elevators.
It all sounds very organic, nothing feels laboured, but at the same time it’s anything but sloppy. The songs here are all lean, never overstaying their welcome, and the band displays a knack for writing strong hooks. They make the most of the limitations their recording setup poses, layering songs with vocal harmonies, the occasional wind instrument (harmonica obviously makes an appearance), and manic guitar riffs.
The record’s well-paced as well, with slower, Revolver-esque tracks breaking up the fray and providing a reprive from the vortex of fuzz. Instrumental track ‘The Heist’ could easily have sound tracked a noir spy thriller, and showcases a greater degree of nuance than most bands from the garage rock background possess.
Acting Strange do still wear their influences on their sleeve – a bit of Marc Bolan swagger here, a bit of Courtney Barnett’s snark there – but come through with enough of their own personality to avoid sounding derivative, with lyrics that are deeply sarcastic and occasionally self-referential.
As debut records go, Talk Talk Talk succeeds in everything it needed to, and ultimately, it’s just a lot of fun to listen to, evoking strong feelings of nostalgia without really pandering to rock’s idealised past. It showcases a lot of promise, as well potential for growth on future outings, marking Acting Strange as an act to look out for.