If you expecting something a bit more refined, especially with a name like The Victorian English Gentlemen’s Club then you’d better think again. Anyway, lactating hazy harmonies that slouch through the summer, album opener ‘Bag of Meat’ is laden with controlled anguish.
The first thing that’s immediately comparable to 2009’s ‘Love On An Oil Rig’ is the darker and heavier tone that is in abundance throughout the whole record. The band claim that this record is a triumphant return to their “earlier stuff – quirkier and emptier, more vocal lead”, something that is balanced by wholesome guitar portions and the songs being quite brief overall.
The press release tells us that two thirds of this band are vegetarian, so we though we should share that fact with you too and commend Louise and Adam on their choice.
‘Sparrow on a String/ Fire in the Wife’ is a real standout track that leads with a brooding baseline and fantastic vocals that are agitating to the point of infectious.
Some songs are lacking, or rather over-compensating for the need or desire to be quirkier and this is especially true on ‘My Imagination Can’t Save Me Now’, a track that’s only too happy to have vocal harmonies intertwined with keyboard segments that are deliberately out of key – something that just grows to be irritable as the song progresses.
The Cardiff three-piece have progressed significantly from their first release and Bag Of Meat is a testament to that. Tracks like ‘Card Trick With A Chimp’ – innate and quite primitive – and the closing track, ‘Not Waving But Drowning’ are really prominent tracks on an album that does try a bit too hard but doesn’t ruin the initial overall appeal of the album.
