It seems to all be becoming a bit formulaic now doesn’t it? Like clockwork when a new year comes around the typical ‘one to watch’ columns of the assorted music press always feature some new British indie band who they hotly tip and talk about with quiet awe as they discuss how this new arrival on the scene might be able to become that band, the band that could emulate what the Arctic Monkeys achieved back in ’05 and be propelled into superstardom on the back of a single record.
Well of course this year was no different and saddled with the yoke of the press’s hyperbole for 2012 is London based five-piece Spector, a band who really have ticked all the boxes for one of these supposed quick out of the box second comings. Enjoying a steady rise, Spector have done everything they needed to since the release of their first single last spring. They have kept a steady dribble of teasers whetting the people’s and press’s appetites, they have played at every festival that will have them and even put in a few performances with everyone’s favourite keyboard player Jools Holland. But it’s that time for them to show what they really have to bring to the table, aside from a lot of hype, with the release of their first LP, Enjoy It While It Lasts.
Spector present a sound of chugging indie rock heavily laced with melodic synths, best described as a cross between The Vaccines and The Killers, and lay down a rather predictably tasting album that reminds me an awful lot of every other one of these bands who gets built up to the heavens before they have even put a record out. It really is just textbook; everything is where you would expect it to be. If you make a checklist of all the features that you would expect from a record of the typical indie ilk, Enjoy It While It Lasts would check them all and then some, it has the typical radio friendly belters with tracks like ‘Chevy Thunder’, the anthemic hooking crowd pleasers like ‘Friday Night, Don’t Ever Let It End’, a smattering of waltzy numbers with ‘Lay Low’ and ‘Never Fade Away’ and lyrical content that just can’t help but touch upon the heart of everyone under the age of twenty five. It’s all there, just where you would expect it to be and as you would expect it’s all just pretty good, it’s not world shattering or ground breaking, it’s just not bad.
While I may be coming across as very cynical and bitter I do in fact like this album a lot for what it is. Although their sound isn’t particularly fresh, every single track on the record is of consistently high quality and is so tightly put together with tunes that will burrow deep into your brain and never ever leave. You will find yourself absentmindedly humming tracks like ‘Chevy Thunder’ and ‘Twenty Nothing’ to yourself and instead of wanting to bash your own head with some kind of blunt instrument you will want to jump and down and just have a fucking great time.
On a whole Enjoy It While It Lasts is a very good indie album and a solid debut, it is just a shame that we could not have just heard the music and taken it for what is was. With the first hurdle set so unrealistically high it is inevitable that Spector can do nothing but stumble and hit the ground hard before everyone turns away to see what else is coming round the corner as they wonder what next might have the chance to fulfil this ridiculous fantasy of instant success. Spector are without a doubt a great example of their genre, but it is a genre that is fast becoming very tired and is being stretched increasingly thin, so really all I can say for the whole scene is right on the album cover, enjoy it while it lasts.
7/10
