By Jake Gillen
Remember this! You read it here first: Your old pal Jake has invented a new genre, just for Alpha Male Tea Party and their new EP.
Ready?
Here it is: After-math.
I am christening the type of music that AMTP make after-math - Like post-rock, post-punk, post-prog, etc, and so on. These AMTP cats take the precise complexity of the math rock genre, which we happen to really like round these parts, and mix in the pounding, roiling grunge of industrial and metal.
Ah, these are a few of my favorite things.
If you’re not already acquainted with Liverpool’s Alpha Male Tea Party, do become so. Acquainted that is.
First, I will share with the uninitiated, that AMTP have some of THE BEST song titles of all time. Even better than awesome titles like ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida’ and ‘Symphony Number 9 in D Minor’ - that’s a difficult one to beat! Titles like ‘Depressingly Shit Lunchtime Sandwich’ and ‘Jason Fucked the Argonauts’ are both on AMTP’s self-titled, full length album from last year. Since the songs are mostly instrumental, and kick much ass, they could’ve named them Fred and Pete, and I would have loved them. In a manly sort of way of course.
This release, sadly, is an EP, and is just way too short. The AMTP gents pack so much after-mathy goodness into the condensed format, and it’s just not enough for me. As a HUGE fan, I can tell you that I am ready for more already. Like when you eat a great meal that is just a little too small - Satisfied but not totally sated.
The title of the new EP, Real Ale and Model Rail: The Lonely Man's Guide to Not Committing Suicide, takes almost as long to say as it takes for the EP to finish.
On the first track, you’ll once again notice the creative song titling that I referred to before - ‘I Don’t Even Like Hollyoaks Anyway’. Being a middle-aged American male, I had to look that one up. Since the AMTP fellows are from Liverpool, and the teen Soap Opera is set in the UK’s North West, things became clearer.
The track itself is a builder, in the same vein as ‘I Am the Morning’ by the mighty Oceansize, getting harder and grungier, leaping without pause into track two, ‘Taste Like Dog’, which really showcases the mathy aspects of the band’s songs: time changes, complexity, kickass drumming, tightness. All the while, pounding distorted riffage akin to Rage Against the Machine or TOOL is interleaved. These two tracks make for a great 7-minute opener.
‘Go To The Ant, You Sluggard’ features vocals, and while not really anything unique or special (what the fuck do I know? I can’t sing, so shouldn’t judge!), they definitely work in the context of this tune. I think of AMTP’s vocals the same way I do for Vessels, for example: They don’t detract from the songs and are quite good. This one has a great high-pitched riff and the bassline during the chorus is cool. All the while, our intrepid drummer is beating the hell out of the crash cymbals. A complex and cool number.
‘Truffles’ is a track that I think perfectly embodies my after-math moniker. This one has that Rage Against the Machine feel, a measured and barely-contained bombast. This is probably the heaviest sounding track, which again, is fine by me. It’s extremely short, at just 2:30, and I think that it could be longer, although it totally stands up fine at the present length.
Then, and sadly, is the last track, ‘Boris Bike Briefcase Man’. There’s a section or two with machine-gun drums, and towards the middle there’s this clean interlude with tribal toms and Vessels-style guitar. Launching back into the more distorted, heavier sound, you get this great layering and building that makes for a sort of triumphant wind-down.
So, being the Fanboy that I usually am, I will share this: I can’t remember when I bought or acquired Alpha Male Tea Party’s full length album, but I had a worn out CD copy for my car (I have a shitty commute). I have since retired that CD and have re-burned the LP and EP to the same disk.
So, to recap: MORE PLEASE, AMTP!
