“A creeping realisation that so-called ‘chamber pop’ would never be a commercial success appears to have set in at camp Aberfeldy.”
“A creeping realisation that so-called ‘chamber pop’ would never be a commercial success appears to have set in at camp Aberfeldy.“
Aberfeldy – Whatever Turns You On
Halfway through Aberfeldy’s second album and your pre-conceptions are suddenly blown away. It’s a fairly anonymous by-numbers track called Poetry that does the deed. Standard sort of Aberfeldy lyrics: twee, anonymous, a little cheery, wilfully detached – “I’ve got a bonnet with a bee inside / why do you run when you know you can’t hide”. Suddenly the whole thing balloons out into a way as crashing guitars, generated beats and overdubbed vocals. Who are they trying to be?
The problem is that there’s massive conflict at the heart of Do Whatever Turns You On. 2004’s Young Forever was simple – 13 indie pop songs replete with harmonies, hooks and a dose of fun. The closest it came to a concept was the totally live, around one mic recording method. Sadly it’s more than production values on which the releases differ. A creeping realisation that so-called ‘chamber pop’ would never be a commercial success appears to have set in at camp Aberfeldy. The result is a wildly varying selection of keyboard-heavy attempts to either gain credibility or hit the Radio 2 playlist.
Whatever the reasoning, it’s hard to translate love for the Aberfeldy of old to the new, ‘hard rocking’ outfit. Lead single Hypnotised takes the shell of an old style Aberfeldy track but smoothes so many corners that there’s very little left to enjoy. It may still be easy to hum but it lacks any playfulness while the vocals are so heavily produced as to leave no sense of warmth. Having lost the charms that the cosiness brought, the band hit a wall; without the warm amateurishness that pervaded in the past the twee songs simply melt into some bland, box ticking, airplay loving mould.
There’s a fine line between being lovable throwbacks and simply resuscitating unfortunately dull musical style. Belle & Sebastian have been plundering the back catalogues of some of the less fashionable acts of 70s for their recent albums and were met with critical praise and the best selling releases of their career. In trying to take the playfulness and fun value of 80s pop Aberfeldy have pushed their luck a little too far. Often this quirkiness translates as more Duran Duran-comeback than retro genius. The case in point is Up Tight; a catchy tune and enjoyable as a form of guilty pleasure but taken on its own it sounds more local radio blandness than an interesting, original pop song.
There’s the odd moment where the charm breaks through – Someone Like You is suitably daft and lovable while the title track features some of the kitschest plinkety-plonk Casio playing this side of a Kid Carpet album. There’s also times when catchy tunes are just too much to resist and overcome the mildness – yes, even soft rock has a (very small) place in everyone’s collections. (Not mine – ed) Sadly none of this is enough to really overcome the issue at heart: a great band has made a cohesive, catchy pop album which has been ruined by a charge for commercialisation and an inherent insipidness that pervade throughout like the writing in a stick of rock. It may not be the soundtrack to the summer but one thing can be taken for certain – it’s going to be nigh-on inescapable over the coming months.
Words: James Waterson.