Gallows - 'Abandon Ship'
In fancy eating circles, the sorbet is a deliberately sharp-tasting dish, a citrus-heavy, milk-free frozen dessert, which was created originally in France, to be served between the starter and the main course. The idea ran that the astringent zestiness would cleanse any lingering strong flavours from the mouth, in preparation for the gastronomic delights to come. It's a bit like eating a Skittles sour in between your onion rings and your burger, only much swankier.
And that's exactly what this lot are really good for. They're not the most accomplished hardcore-type band ever (although the idea that it's possible to become a classically-trained hardcore punk musician is kind of self-defeating), and Frank Carter doesn't have the best grunty-shout-voice of all the other grunty-shouters in the punk wilderness. BUT that's all to the good.
Cos it's the imperfections, the raggedyness, the sandpaper production, Frank's British accent and lack of dudeisms, and the TOTAL CONVICTION with which the band play which hook you in. There's just something compelling about the way they do what they do. Whether you can stomach a whole bowlful of it in one sitting is a whole other question
But you have to admit, there's loads of fragrant, exotically-spiced and elegantly-prepared dishes out there at the moment. The aroma of 'quality ingredients' hangs over the charts like a purple fug, and there's nothing wrong with that, so long as no-one sneers too much at people who'd rather have a kebab from time to time.
It's just that if you're really enjoying your Chicken Rihanna and you're looking forward to a great big roast Timberlake, all covered in Chili Peppers (and look, they've got Arctic Roll on the dessert menu, yum yum!), it's nice to totally reset your music appreciation tastebuds with something as sharp as this.
Although, I would imagine this is not a service the band will be keen to promote. You can hardly see them putting a sticker on their CDs which reads "Can be used as a musical sorbet. May contain nuts", can you?
Download: Out now
CD Released: June 6th
(Fraser McAlpine)
Comments
I saw em in amsterdam, they were AWESOME
When I first listened to this I thought, oh, this is cool enough, shouty-shouty-shouty-waaaaah, yeah sure, but theeeeen at the end, the singer goes "I never loved you anyway!!!"
Awwww. Now they have me hooked.
what's a "purple fug" haha love chartblog tho
[It's like any other kind of fug, only a bluey-red colour. - Fraser]