I hate acronyms! Passionately! However, for a couple of reasons I am prepared to make an exception in this case. Firstly, the ‘Sunday,’ name for this band is AND WHAT WILL BE LEFT OF THEM? and to write this in full on the album cover would leave no room for any artwork. Secondly, I can’t be arsed writing that out every time I refer to the band.
Awwblotis a terrible ‘name,’ for a band, but don’t let that put you off checking out this album. It is full to overflowing with snappy, synth and hook laden, classic artrock songs. And that is the only criticism I could possibly make of this, the band’s debut long player – there is possibly too much of a good thing here! With thirteen tracks spanning forty-one minutes, there could be an argument in favour of dropping a few songs for a later / single release as no matter how many times I’ve played the album, there is always a section at which point my attention span wanes and some tracks merge into anonymity.
But I’m being picky!
Those readers familiar with the vocal style of Shragwill appreciate lead singer Heather’s delivery. Her shouted yelps are often complimented with the more raucous shouts of guitarist Pete. But the band is more versatile than just any other bog-standard artrock band. Opening track ‘DIY Not DIE,’ is like a signature tune, with the cry of ‘AWWBLOT! AWWBLOT!’ repeated throughout this stomper of a song. Right away, the synths, two-toned vocals and bouncy disposition have the listener gagging for more! ‘Dance, Damn You, Dance,’ softens the tone, but only a touch, with Peter taking a more prominent but slightly muted vocal part with the ‘backing vocals,’ gradually building and eventually usurping the initial arrangement.
‘Orlick! Orlick!’ follows and has a sort of drum ‘n’ bass feel to it at certain points. Again, Heather’s voice is softer and quite unique throughout the verses, and exploding into a more shouty style for the chorus. The short burst of a bouncy reggae beat leading to a frantic final thirty seconds works well. At almost three and a half minutes, this is one of the longest tracks on the album.
‘Jesus,’ features an almost ecclesiastical ‘hum,’ of the keyboards throughout, with Heather sounding as one would think of a generic, female-fronted Japanese bubblegum-pop band.
And so it goes – thirteen thoroughly danceable tracks that are guaranteed floor-fillers at any self respecting Indie Club Night. On reflection, maybe the reason a few tracks fade in the memory is that the vast majority are so strong.
And you know, this can be a good thing too – for just as a squirrel buries nuts for leaner times, there will always be a couple of songs that can be returned to and appreciated at a later date once perhaps your head has come to terms with the overall quality of this album.