Emily Rock Group - Pop and Fade

  by Peter Liddle

published: 17 / 12 / 2001

Label: Collectable Escalators
Format: CD

intro

This is one of those very special records that when I heard it I had never heard anything quite like it before. How, though, does someone like me, not familiar with the band's scene and unable to sli

This is one of those very special records that when I heard it I had never heard anything quite like it before. How, though, does someone like me, not familiar with the band's scene and unable to slide in obvious comparisons, rate and indeed compare this? I think after listening to this, I decided that wasn't the question. It was more a question of how good it was, and 'Pop and Fade' is indeed very good. Especially in this current musical climate of rehashing old styles and inventing new ways to market them, this, to me, sounds fresh, be it a take on old ideas or not. This record managed to surprise me several times with its twists and turns. Starting with deadpan Beta Band voices over jerky guitar, the band on first impressions seem to be a bored experimental band. One track on, there's a man screaming various crazy things about borrowing your car. Further on still , there's straightforward punky fun, which is interspersed with sparse and well placed interludes of quiet guitars. Elsewhere there is an acoustic song, while all over the songs hold together like superglue. The sound of the album reminds me of when you see a local band who've been playing locally for years and are so honed, so together, that you are impressed by that alone, never mind their songs. The songs are madcap and break down different genres of rock The guitars scream and chug at all the right moments. And the drums sound perfect, even in some cases leading the songs It's this polished edge (and not in the "polished production" way) that creates a live atmosphere to this album. The Emily Rock Group sound like a band you'd love to see again and again because they sound so inventive and exciting. This variation, skill and strong attitude could be why it is such an hard to place - it isn't quite a pop album for kids who love jumping around, or bad ones that love swearing, and the subjects of the songs don't suggest it has that intellectual edge, but it feels close to its roots, whatever they may be. The album collects together and honours sounds and songs from past years, and then builds upon it. So maybe this album will sell best in Cleveland, home of Emily Rock Group and their peers, but it shouldn't stop the rest of us from joining in - discovering something like this for yourself, at least to me, is the equivalent of listening to several good albums.

Track Listing:-