Since The Go! Team rolled onto the UK music scene in the mid noughties with their infamous debut Thunder, Lightning, Strike, they have boasted quite an impressive legacy, mixing dream pop melodies with shoegaze and Beasties Boys-esque beatage. Let’s see what they have in store for 2015 with The Scene Between.
Opening with a J Mascis-esque guitar force on the opening bars of ‘What D’You Say?’, driven along a shoegaze motorway, but the voice is annoying. It’s far too cute, a bit like the kind of cute you would hear from Kimya Dawson of Moldy Peaches fame. The chorus has a Breeders vibe too, which is more enjoyable than the verses. Title track ‘The Scene Between’ is like a nursery song, and one that would have you ripping your hair out in despair. It’s like the Teletubbies theme song but worse! ‘Waking The Jet Stream’ has a better flow to it, but is lyrically poor and not very exciting. ‘Blowtorch‘, again doesn’t hit the mark, it just seems like very little effort has been put into the songwriting and musicianship! The guitars peak now and again but that’s about it. I remember hearing their Rolling Blackouts album and thinking “Fuck, this is epic!”.
They should’ve never moved away from the hip hop element that gave their sound some much needed beef. ‘Did You Know?’ is as gentle as a Kellogg’s variety pack. Again the chorus is alright, but the general feel is just abysmal. ‘Catch Me On The Rebound’ is not much better, just a pitiful montage of what could’ve been something truly great judging by previous releases, but obviously this Brighton bunch have thrown in the towel on writing inventive tunes that grab your attention. ‘Her Last Wave’ is the best track on the set list so far, and I’m not joking when I say I’m ecstatic. The vocal has an ‘Imperial’ by Primal Scream feel, whilst gliding across Kevin Shields‘ living room carpet. Why didn’t they make the first three quarters of the album sound like this?
‘The Art of Getting By’ is a joyous fairground ride; filled with high pitched crashing bells, and a climbing marathon of infinity. The Scene Between ends on ‘Reason Left to Destroy’, which returns to the Dinosaur Jr feel they began with at the start of this display of mediocrity. I am left disappointed, I would quite happily have someone cut off both my ears before giving this another listen.
[Rating:2]
