There’s been a couple of changes to Edinburgh band A Fight You Can’t Win since we reviewed their last EP Every Last Breath. Bass player Paul left last year due to work commitments, followed by drummer Sander. The story I heard is that every time he got drunk the man with the sticks would start rambling incoherently in what turned out to be Dutch, and try to get everyone to look under his kilt. But that’s perfectly normal behaviour so who knows what really happened there.
Another change is an overall slightly less aggressive and unhinged sound for the new self-titled release, which goes for about twelve minutes with five songs. No, they haven’t turned into Boards Of Canada, so you will still get to jump and flail around and take each other’s eyes out, and most of you still wouldn’t take AFYCW home to play for your Mum. It’s as though they are making better use of the difference between a live set and the constraints around what you can recreate on a recording, and in doing so making the best of both worlds.
The melodies and riffs feel more confident, and although these were strong points on Every Last Breath, Matthew Bakewell’s distinctive and strong vocals have been freed up with more flowing verses rather than saving the melody up for the chorus. The biggest shift is their conquering of silence and dynamics in noisy rock, having had a good stab at it last time. Just as having ugly friends makes you look better, the softer parts and moments of silence work to bring out the depth and impact of the other 95% of the song. ‘Jerusalem Crickets‘ does this so well by pausing at 2:09 in what would be a perfectly good end to the song, before slipping back into the chorus with some harmonies before completely going off (cue perfect opportunity for extended barrage of arsehole tearing, paint stripping mayhem when played live).
The band continues to evoke of the spirit of punk - proper punk from when these guys were still crawling around or just a twinkle in their fathers’ eyes – while at the same time using a twin-guitar assault, fluid bass groove and intricate drumming that take more from early heavy rock than that punk ethos. This is loud, intelligent, heavy rock that packs a fuck-load into a very small space without losing any raw emotion.
And if you don’t believe me, look under its kilt.
