I May have been a bit harsh on this new series, maybe it’ll work and here to help me road test its second outing is The Aftermath and their debut album Friendlier Up Here. This is one of those albums I’m very surprised Tickets There hasn’t found a way to review before but first, a little bit of background.
Hailing from the fine towns of Longford, Leeds and Mullingar, The Aftermath have been working overtime for the last few years gigging every single chance they get in order to make a name for themselves. Their live performance is always fantastic and the Johnny Cronin is every bit a classic rock front man. Thankfully the band don’t sulk and stare down when on stage and they also don’t hide behind a pile of hats, masks, gimmick’s or any of the other shite most Irish bands try. It’s just them and the music and that’s all you need folks. Friendlier Up Here was released last year and has received a massive load of critical success. Unfortunately The Aftermath are one of those Irish bands that RTE scouts haven’t picked up yet (may your heads be struck from your shoulders) and this is one of the reasons the band haven’t achieved the commercial success they truly deserve.
Opening with the infectiously catchy Are You Not Wanting Me Yet?, the band explode into a semi-psychedelic/Beatles driven kind of sound that comes nicely packaged as a heavy, upbeat array of sounds. Really, really, really catchy. I Wish My Love Would Die is a strange choice for a second song after such a full on opener…but it works, works so well in fact that the massive difference in sounds highlights each other qualities and the bands ability to diversify their talent rather than play on one strength. Northern Lingerie is pure pop-rock at its finest. Another dance floor filling, slightly psychedelic riff’s played by a rock guitarist (of you catch my drift. Imagine Oasis playing The Velvet Underground). Nice, slow and once again, extremely catchy. All I Want For You Is To be Happy is one of the bands lead singles and a firm fan favorite. It’s a little slower than their other dancy songs and it’s just a lovely piece of music, probably because it’s clean cut and believable. There’s no bitches or bling bling. There’s also no decaying rats are antichrist mentions but it’s also not The Script.
Another single One is Fun is probably the bands best live track. Really upbeat, really melodic and full of crackin’ beats and changes. (Yes I’m rushing through this because my MP3 is about to die and I want to listen to each track while I’m writing about it). Overlooking Paris is the bands strongest love song. The style and tones are completely different to everything else on the album and the added accordion and string backing makes it all the more special. Haunting would be the best way to describe the atmosphere for this one. Up and Down with the Aftermath is a nice, short instrumental that leads into another heavy number, Need. Really fast guitars and drums and a great hark back to the days of Brit-pop. There’s a Darkness is another one of the albums strongest tracks and by this time you start to wonder how the hell this album hasn’t made it to number one? Hollywood Remake, Joyful Mystery, Tickets There’s personal favorite Six Days to Saturday and Song of a Graveyard follow and expand the albums incredible stock pile of tracks.
If you haven’t bought it already, go and get it now.
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