Review: Tribes – ‘Baby’


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Tribes have risen through the ranks of the crowded Camden music scene and emerged as contenders for the title of debut album of the year.

Formed a little over a year ago, they’ve propelled themselves into the mainstream after winning over last year’s festival crowds to make them one of the most promising bands of 2012.

The post Libertines meltdown in 2004 left a void which for a frustrating amount of time was filled with copycats and second rate rip offs. The city had been overrun with bands all clinging on desperately to the glory of those coat tails and a once promising time in music has now almost sunk without trace. Tribes are not the new Libertines, nor do they share much in common musically, but the parallels in their dramatic rise to stardom and strong links with Camden’s gig circuit will no doubt draw comparisons.

The record might be already be hailed as a success, but that hasn’t affected their honesty as they’ve not shied away from admitting to the ‘little mistakes’ that are apparent on debut offering, ‘Baby‘. They say that leaving in these mistakes on the final cut gives the record a ‘human feel’. Fortunately for them, the album is stacked with accessible, catchy, pop songs, so any inconsistencies are vastly overshadowed.

That the album’s arrival as one of the most 90s sounding albums in years comes along when the Nineties are ‘in’ again may be extremely clever forward-thinking marketing or simply (more likely) a very fortunate coincidence; it also happens to be the year that is being kicked off with appearances by both Noel Gallagher and Blur at the Brit Awards. There’s a lot of nostalgia in the air at the moment, and Tribes’ influences hail from this golden period.

Take ‘Sappho‘, the single that first got them noticed. It’s Suede through and through – from the rousing intro of fuzzy, cutting guitar lines and melodic verses through to its huge chorus that will be dragging hungover festival goers out of their tents this summer.

Corner Of An English Field‘ pulls on the heart strings and also glimmers of Bernard Butler‘s work in Suede, and while ‘Sappho’ didn’t set the world alight upon its release last summer, the completion of a new album and the new-found interest recently generated should breath new life into the song.

On ‘Whenever‘, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Johnny Marr had managed to muscle his way into yet another band band as a Smiths-esque, moody guitar hook opens the track. but by the time we get to the chorus we’re moving dangerously into the shit phase of The Killers‘ career. Thankfully, what they draw from the strengths of the band and use it to their advantage, without the over the top banal foghorn vocal delivery of Brandon Flowers.



The Nineties are clearly an inspiration to the band, and on ‘We Were Children‘ the decade is even given a direct mention, ‘We were children in the mid-Nineties’ sings Johnny Lloyd, perhaps with that same disdain in his voice that many share who were too young to truly embrace the rise of cool Britannia. The song hints at a Pixies-inspired riff and sets the mood for the album which occasionally revisits this particular inspiration.

Himalaya‘ is another nod towards the Nineties and boasts gloomy, emotive guitar work reminiscent of early Blur. It’s just a shame that the chorus lets it down a bit in the backing vocals department; sounding rather forced over some already powerful guitar melodies that were doing a pretty good job of tearing the roof off on their own.

The radio friendly, upbeat pop gems of the record’s first half are given a back seat at the halfway mark as we make room for sweeping melodies and heavy guitars reminiscent of Radiohead at the peak of their powers. ‘Nightdriving‘ is an aptly titled album highlight that encompasses the desperate hope of ‘No Surprises‘ with the crunching guitars of ‘Creep‘. It’s not just one big trip down Britpop lane though – there’s even a whiff of the 80s on ‘Walking In The Street‘. It’s difficult not to wince at the ‘All I wanna do is you’ lyric. but if you’re willing to ignore this adolescent behaviour there is actually a decent pop song to be enjoyed. The thumping drums and breezy production akin to The Delays are the modern backdrop to the influences which sit in the heart of the record and it’s a blend that produces fruitful results.

Tribes certainly wear their influences on their sleeves, but that is not to say they are void of any originality. Drawing from your inspirations and doing something new and fresh with those ideas is not easy to pull off, but Tribes have managed it.

The production may be on occasion slightly too diluted to really give the songs their deserved platform, but there’s a delicate nature about the record that really warms to you by the end.

(Matt Humphrey)


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