I did chuckle as I saw the name IAN come through on the promo email, the sort of half smile I raise when I meet a dog that has been given a traditionally human name. That smirk turned to an ear to ear smile the minute I pressed play on Come On Everybody, Let’s Do Nothing! With a strong foot in both post-metal and post-rock the Exeter five piece has created a stunningly memorable debut album stacked with captivating melodies, brooding atmosphere and dense heavy riffs and this has certainly thrown the cat amongst the pigeons of my end of year list.
The members of IAN are no strangers to the UK scene having spent the early 2000’s amongst the Freakscene label of the Exeter Cavern notably in “jokingly self styled orchestrated hardcore” band Tyler who toured with Hell Is For Heroes in, what I see as, the halcyon days of UK post-hardcore. 20 years have since past and it seems IAN is another pandemic success tale of friends reunited and rejuvenated to create new things. Adding cello to the normal genre mix of heavy screamed vocals, guitar, drums and bass gives the five tracks a great identity in both cinematic scale and emotional weight.
I am a sucker for strings in post music and the way the cello is deployed by IAN scratches that itch delightfully. This definitely harks to similarities with Pijn, A Silver Mt Zion, The Pirate Ship Quintet and Yndi Halda in various moments but with a strong personal touch. The strings orchestrate the quieter moments of ‘Building Pyramids’, amplify the heavier tones such as opener ‘Manuel’ and crunching lead single ‘Fennel’, while also leading out the Cult of Luna tinged ‘Selma’. It is never alone though and the unity of all the instruments here is what makes Come On Everybody… such a triumphant release.
Whilst there are some cracking riffs and an incredible vocal performance the full weight of the band is felt in everything, the music rises organically and easily avoids the pitfalls of post music by numbers. No song falls below 7 minutes and I often wanted them to keep going and through quiet or loud, heavy or soft, Come On Everybody, Let’s Do Nothing! is captivating, especially the epic closer ‘Not Erotic / Cop Film (End Credits)’. The magic ear and touch of Wayne Adams is evident here and each instrument is placed perfectly on this wondrous release.
Never judge a book by its cover nor a band (or dog) by its name. Come On Everybody, Let’s Do Nothing! masters both emotive post-rock and heavy crunching post-metal with aplomb. It has it all, the reflective moods, the repentant anger and an unburdening of everything that piles up in life. IAN has created something very special and it is another triumphant release for Human Worth for the vinyl collection.
