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The Aphrodisiacs
label themselves as a ‘three piece, crazy experimental band fae Motherwell’ and
as such sell themselves a little short. They claim to owe the roots of their
first album (This is a Campaign) to the technological finesse of a palmtop
digital studio and ‘Super Mario Racing’, again, this doesn’t really do their
debut justice. Significant steps have obviously been taken throughout the
process of conceiving, arranging and recording this record, because the results
suggest more than a bunch off kids playing with circuit boards in their
bedrooms.
Formed ‘sometime
in 2002’, and already veterans of two Peel Sessions and a festive fifty entry
The Aphrodisiacs are slowly but surely gathering a reputation for penning
intelligent songs, heavily laden with understated electronic assistance and
gently moulded around occasional but insistent guitars; the resultant sound is
not a million miles away from early New Order/late Joy Division, there is an
element of The Fall and a definite sense of Pulp, only without the Yorkshire
accent. That whole rudimentary electronic music movement from the early ‘80’s
is an obvious, if lazy, reference point, and the inclusion of guitars suggests
the dreaded term ‘crossover’. Maybe it’s not ‘crossover’ though, maybe it’s a
genre all of its own?
Album opener
‘The Tomorrow People’ reinforces the New Order influence from the outset, with
it’s ‘Blue Monday’-ish opening, regimental, pulsating beat overlain by swirling
synthesiser swoops before inserting the softly spoken lyrics. It’s almost a
clash between the brutal, rudimentary beats and the thoughtful words, one
relies on it’s intensity and in-your-face rhythmic strength for it’s presence,
the other hopes that you will listen close enough to appreciate that the vocal
track is not simply idly sung noises adding another ‘instrument’ to the
soundtrack. In the end it’s probably a draw, the music is infectious and drags
you along with ease, the lyrics vital, hushed and incisive.
‘Against The
Grain’ is more of the same, sensitive vocal lines fighting with high grade
bleeps and rough hewn guitars, whilst title track ‘This is a Campaign’ is a
more delicate offering. This isn’t to say it is at all delicate, just not as
raucous, it is an up-tempo, pulsating, rhythmic, sonic stream of effervescing
studio manipulation. It’s cleaner than the previous tracks; it’s calmer, yet
still uplifting.
‘If You Want Me’
hints at a darker side to The Aphrodisiacs, certainly lyrically, if not
musically, whilst ‘The Hour is Late so Please Consider’ – star of the recent
Peel Session – swings directly back towards uplifting. The lyrics steadily
dragging something positive out of the bad times...
“Hey there, I
would like to take this time to remind you, don’t fold, don’t fade...”
It’s a tale of
lost love, rejection, and realisation that things are not going to measure up
to your dreams, but through all the dejection and heart break there is an
indelible understanding that you have not only learned a lot from what has gone
before, but that life can only get better with your new found knowledge, and
for that there is a debt of gratitude.
‘Ghost in the
Shell’ is a rocking dance beat that would have had the Thursday night Hacienda
crowd hands aloft and wide eyed with ecstatic bliss back in 1989.
The Aphrodisiacs
could be dragged into the whole post-baggy, dance-rock crossover genre, but
they are so much more than that. If they had been turning out these tunes at
the end of the 1980’s or the early ‘90’s they would have been championed in the
music press, eulogised on daytime radio, and solid ever-presents on the club
scene. Time however is something that we have no control over, and the passing
of such may mean that Motherwell’s finest have missed a perfect opportunity for
an easy ride to pop stardom. Fortunately enough though there is still a great
demand for music that both allows you to listen to intelligently crafted lyrics
yet still exercise your favourite dance moves at the Saturday night disco, and
The Aphrodisiacs fill that gap in the market perfectly. A round peg for a round
hole. All those ‘crossover’ bands that came before, a decade ago are left
standing on the sidelines by this record. The Northside’s, the 808 States, the
Flowered Up’s of the past simply fade into insignificance as soon as ‘This is a
Campaign’ slides effortlessly into the cd player.
Closing the
album is the crescendo of ’15 Pillars of Despair’, it builds slowly from a
dangerous, edgy acoustic beginning to a deafening roar of intense beats and
filthy, overwrought guitar, leaving you wavering on the edge of the precipice,
delicately poised between safety on the pop plateau, and the gaping chasm of
big, dirty, noisy rocky dance music. And like anything hidden, or forbidden,
the attraction is just too great to resist, and like me, you will undoubtedly
find yourself hurling yourself headlong into the noise.
It’s totally
irresistible.
Johnny Mac
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