| CD Review - Recruit |
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| Review by JD 20 September 2009 |
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I wrote a review of Recruit's debut EP way back when. I waxed lyrical (hopefully) about how good the tunes on that EP were, how well crafted, and how well thought out they were. And how they had dipped their toes into the cooling tide of the Mancunian sound. This mini album is pretty much the same. The same craftmanship. The same love of a good tune. The same grasping for perfection. What's not the same is the Mancunian toe dipping.
What!?
Ok, so maybe a little. I'm sure if I tried hard enough I could still cite the Roses or Bunnymen. But the question is why would I need to? This recording, to me, is such a radical step away from the Mancunian toe dipping of two years ago that it makes me wonder whether a lifebelt is needed. Recruit have moved on and made a great album because ot that.
Alright enough of the stupid water metaphors. What about the music. What about the songs.
Opener "Where's It Gonna Get Ya" is perhaps the one track on this album that wouldn't have been out of place on the earlier EP and, as such, acts as a bridge linking the older tunes to the new and I feel darker, rockier sound. A lovely, simple riff kicks off the track before the guitar almost takes a back seat, particularly in the verse, where the vocals are king and the lovely meandering bass locks in to the beat laid down. There's a lot to take in on this deceptively simple track, keyboards sail back and forth vying with the guitar for center stage.
"Billy Tabasco", the second track on offer, is probably my least favourite, perversly because I can see this becoming a firm live favourite. It is a good tune. There's no getting away from that, its just that it seems to have "commercial" stamped all over it. Now that may not be a bad thing, depending on your perspective; it could indeed be the track that people take to. Its that sort of song. Its got everything it needs and the production (by Ewan Davies and Recruit at Chapel Studios) enhances the vibe enormously. Its bleak at times in its sparcity of instrumentation and uplifting when the guitars, keys and the bass come flooding back in.
God! Track three - "Look For You" - starts off like some heavy 80's electronic post punk. Again all the instruments seem, at times, understated, but this helps dynamically as the verses build in intensity. The tunes quickly loses its 80's electronic vibe, going for a darker feel as the song develops. Notice that word? Develops. Interesting word, but something so many bands forget when writing a song. Most good tunes "develop", creating variations on a theme. Poor bands either don't realise this or choose to ignore it, opting instead for the same instrumentation, the same way of playing every verse. Lacking this colour songs often lose their appeal fast. This is something Recruit CANNOT be accused of. It seems that they strive to ensure that every verse has something different going on, some different colouring. It makes for an interesting and pleasing listening experience.
An aggressive almost atonal riff kicks off "What You Keep", a raucous tune, that benefits from more depth than you'd expect. The megaphone vocals, and a fuzzed up bass makes this a noisy and utterly wonderful song. Its vibrant and pacy and deliciously dirty. I wonder whether when played live this tune keeps going into some wild frantic workout, as it appears that its dying to go that way on disk. As the guitar builds in intensity just before the keys kick in its just begging for a massive extended work out. Perhaps my favourite tune.
Finally "Vicinity" closes the album. And like "What You Keep" before it, this song rocks. Its gives almost too much, you feel that the band are sweating blood. Its a hard htting tune with a glorious melody. Again this song could have been extended quite easily. But it hasn't and it says something about Recruit. They know how to pitch a tune on record. They seem to have an innate sense of what they can do on record. They give the listener a tune. A song. There's no showboating - how many bands would rein in an unnecessary solo to benefit the tune? Not many I'd guess. But Recruit do it and its not until the CD is over that you think "Fuck me, there were no solos." The point is the songs stand up as songs not as a backing track to some demented prima donna soloist. Good for them.
Recruit used Chapel on their last outing and produced a quality offering. This time, whilst Chapel Studios are not undeserving of credit, Recruit have also upped the ante. The songs this time round are (surprisingly) stronger. More confident. More colourful.
A great album of good and fantastic tunes that takes the Recruit sound to a new level, whilst still retaining all that is good about the band. I'm sure this record will keep finding its way onto my CD player in the coming months and deservedly so.
JD
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2. Billy Tabasco This page was last updated Monday, 11 January 2010
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