Supposedly, youth is wasted on the young. Not so for The Districts. If their debut album ‘A Flourish and a Spoil‘ is anything to go by they aren’t wasting anything, especially their youth.
This is an ambitious record, not in some kind of ridiculously epic scope, or anything so crass, merely in its bold statement of intent. Like it or not, this is a Districts record, and to be that clear and concise in your own sound, so soon, takes real guts and ability.
Many bands could spend a career searching for a set of songs that so clearly define them and what they believe.
And what a sound it is; with all the guts and sleaze of true urban rock and roll, it’s a record packed with distortion and disorientation. In just ten tracks, this young band paint a picture proudly across the mind of anyone who happens to listen, and it won’t be one people forget. The wonderfully off-kilter production and sound gives much of the album a fascinating edge, making it extremely compulsive listening, and truly bringing to life the stories they are telling.
There is so much here to get involved with. There is an ominous stomp and motion that is reminiscent of a slow sludge take on Sebadoh’s brilliant ‘Bakesale‘. What it lacks in Bakesale’s frenzied power and hooks it makes up for with subdued mood and tension. Tracks like ‘Sing The Song’, with its wonky piano and the lightest touches of psychedelia, are powered by the same kind of distortion and angst as ‘S. Soup’, and capture the same kind of excitement, while ‘Bold’s dual rhythm and explosiveness brings a wonderful tension and uneasiness to the sound, as with the Bakesale’s frantic ‘License To Confuse’, only its pace makes it feel far more claustrophobic and cloying.
Alternately, they give us the beautiful ‘Suburban Smell’, which has much in common with Bright Eyes‘ ‘Lua’. Although it may lack some of ‘Lua’s’ narrative, it still carries as much emotional punch. But the moments of true awe are found on the two tracks that bookend it. The final track, ‘6 AM’, is captivating. It takes the record in a suddenly unexpected direction, one that is somehow welcome and the perfect orderly end to the chaos that has preceded. ‘4th and Roebling’ just stuns, a truly eerie feeling of something you know, but not something you can ever place.
The Districts, over ten tracks, have put together what many bands might never achieve. They have defined themselves. They might record better albums, or more successful albums. They might try new directions, or bring in new influences. There is bound to be so much more, but this will always be the source of their power, because it defines them.
For a debut, it is fascinating. For their ages, it is all the more impressive and just as a record it is, quite simply, exciting.
