Spectrals: ‘Sob Story’ – Album Review

 

Potential is too often a word used in reviews of bands that are taking their first tentative steps into the twisted world of the music industry. It can be a word that has the power to hold a band or artist back as much as help them raise their game going into the next record. It can be a cross to bare. In other walks of life too, the power of something or someone that is labelled as having potential can lead to expectations that become too difficult to manage. Sometimes the resulting sob story can be difficult to watch and make you wonder why we allow ourselves to be controlled by what others think, after all, Art and music in particular, is clearly the most subjective of topics.

So, maybe that’s why the sob story of Spectrals is an interesting one. The songs of Louis Jones, a twenty-something singer songwriter from Yorkshire, Spectrals are signed to Wichita Recordings, the much sort after home of bands such as Best Coast, Bloc Party, First Aid Kit and Les Savy Fav. That in itself is enough to put pressure on a band in the infancy of its career. ‘Sob Story’ is the follow up to warmly received debut ‘Bad Penny’, which fitted in nicely at the time of release with its twisted lo-fi take on the Spector 60s sound and 50s Do Wop.

It’s early on the opening track ‘Let Me Cave In’ where an obvious connection is made and it’s something that could lose people straight away. Jones has a vocal sound that is incredibly similar in tone to Elvis Costello and could grate, but thankfully it has enough uniqueness about it to not be a full on tribute. Minimal guitar is joined by a pounding drum that reminds of well…errrm.. ‘Pounding’ by Doves. The song is a bitter sweet tale of a young man losing in love due to his own mistakes, the closing lyric of “I don’t have enough for a wedding ring, let me cave in” is tinged with the kind of regret we all feel when we let someone down we care about.

On ‘A Heartbeat Behind’, Jones flits towards a more early 70s glam sound, in fact it’s almost as close as you could get to T-Rex without raising Marc Bolan from the dead and leaving him on Jurassic Park. Despite an obvious take on that era, it works to great effect. Again a candid regret seems to be the central theme in the lyrics. “I’ve been a heartbeat behind most of life” is the central lyric that the rest of the song revolves around, suggesting that Jones feels left behind by life or at least on the fringes looking in.

 

 

When he gets it right, Jones clearly shows he has a talent and love of lots of different genres. The title track ‘Sob Story’ and ‘Friend Zone’ show his love of Alt Country, with the kind of sound that wouldn’t be out of place on one of the many guises of Will Oldham. ‘Milky Way’ is a one his more upbeat moments with a drum intro that is a well know sporting chant, it fizzes along with the energy of Sparklehorse at Mark Linkous’ happier times and is an obvious choice for a single. ‘Keep Your Magic Out Of My House’ is another glam stomper that is instantly pleasing on the ears too and could certainly be a contender for a future single.

The biggest concern is that too much of ‘Sob Story’ passes you by without leaving the kind of impact that was evidently hoped for. ‘Karaoke’ has a pleasant enough jangly guitar line reminiscent of early Smiths, but seems to fall at that hurdle, instead wondering into late Britpop territory, which as we all know, had stagnated and curdled like out of date milk in the sunshine. ‘Limosine’ has that kind of intro that Kings of Leon made their career on, but sadly doesn’t have the legs to gain its merit. The woeful ‘Blue Whatever’ is the only song on the record that truly stinks it out. Again, the glam formula is used, but it sounds as if Jones has gone down a nursery school route, with lyrics like “It takes rain to bring me and the umbrella, together”, that make you cringe somewhat. Thankfully, these are moments which are outnumbered and fleeting, but they do suggest a lack of depth could become an issue.

‘Sob Story’ is a perfect example of a band starting to find its own voice away from the constrictions of working too closely to their influences. It could have been very easy for Jones to stick to a formula that has been reeping success for many of his peers in recent times, but he is moving very much in his own circles and it’s likeable enough to follow. There is however a doubt as to where he goes next with his sound and whether he can really fulfil the potential that his first two releases have shown. If he can raise his game higher still on his next release, this potential will begin to be fully realised and this release’s title will not become a self fulfilling prophecy.

 

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