Evans the Death - Expect Delays

by Dave Goodwin

published: 12 / 4 / 2015

Label: Fortuna POP!
Format: CD

intro

Stunning second album from thought-provoking 90’s-influenced post-punk/alternative rock outfit, Evans the Death

Changing line-up following the release of their debut, Evans the Death, who consisted of brothers Dan and Olly Moss and singer Katherine Whitaker, recruited Leeds’ band the ABC Club's drummer James Burkitt, to complete a taut new four-piece. More ambitious and focused than their previous record, whilst sacrificing none of their spontaneity and vitality, ‘Expect Delay" is a supremely inventive and intelligently crafted album from a band who have suffered for their art, and used that experience to inform and nourish their work. Their self-titled debut won critical acclaim from magazines like ‘Rolling Stone’ and ‘Q’ Magazine and they spent a lot of time on the road gigging, prompting ‘Clash Magazine’ to hail them as "one of the most exciting prospects on the live circuit.” Here, Evans the Death return with their second album ‘Expect Delays’, which is released through Fortuna POP! This album was recorded again with the help of the debut's producer Rory Atwell, and sees the band coming into their own a little more as they progress and account in their own unique way a life battling out an existence on the poverty line in Cameron’s Britain, leaving them with a succession of minimum-wage jobs and unemployment benefits interviews. According to guitarist Dan Moss, this album is about “being in London and feeling hopeless and a bit lost. Not having any money, relationships falling apart, things just not connecting or going anywhere and getting absolutely wasted all the time.” Evans the Death still have both feet firmly set in the post-punk and 90s alt-rock that has inspired them from the start, but this offering has them in a more expressive, heavier and more experimental phase as if they are now starting to find their way musically and then lyrically incorporating a greater sense of despair with sharp wordplay and humour whilst starting to push boundaries. Again, according to guitarist Moss, there are parts within this new album that are “a bit strange.” And some parts of the album do sound a little on the weird side but it adds to an unsettling sense of melancholy and hopelessness that underpins most of this very appealing work. The starter ‘Intrinsic Grey’ sounds like something from UNCLE and explodes into life, setting the tone for much of the rest of the album. ‘Terrified’ chugs away brilliantly with a kind of Hammond bleating away in the background, and the melody of ‘Sledgehammer’ is a toe tapper extraordinaire. ‘Idiot Button’ is a personal favourite, as is the title track. ’Waste of Sunshine’ and ‘Clean Up’ also excel, with Whitaker’s vocals weaving its magic throughout a drum bashing vocal ‘Bad Year’ and ‘Just 60,000 More Days Till I Die’ are like chalk and cheese, the latter being a firm example of the band’s portrayal of their humdrum existence. I'm going to enjoy doing the best albums of 2015 come Christmas time as this is surely going to be in it. It is a very accomplished second venture that will surely put Evans the Death on the map. Stunning!

Track Listing:-

1 Intrinsic Grey
2 Terrified
3 Sledgehammer
4 Idiot Button
5 Bad Year
6 Just 60,000 More Days 'Til I Die
7 Expect Delays
8 Enabler
9 Waste of Sunshine
10 Shanty
11 Clean Up
12 Don't Laugh at My Angry Face
13 Don't Beat Yourself Up

Band Links:-

https://twitter.com/evansthedeath
https://www.facebook.com/evansthedeath

Label Links:-

http://www.fortunapop.com/
https://twitter.com/fortunapop
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fortuna-POP/202756739792517

live reviews

Chameleon, Nottingham, 23/7/2015

Dave Goodwin attends a busy and frantic but curious night at The Chameleon in Nottinghm that concludes with fuzzy London-based indie rockers Evans the Death playing a storming but awkward set