There’s more than Spike Island to Afflecks Palace’s new album.
DIY is an oft-used phrase in music nowadays.
One of the many reasons that solo artists are rising in prominence is that, from an instrumental perspective, everything can be done in the bedroom.
Why bother going through the stress of finding a drummer when your laptop can performed the function competently? To say nothing of personality clashes or musical differences.
But in today’s discordant music industry, the Do It Yourself ethic has been taken to new extremes. Gone (perhaps for good) are the days when the coercion of a record label was required. Although it requires more organisation, the entire process from writing a song to releasing an album and coordinating a tour can be done by the band themselves.
Afflecks Palace have taken that to the extreme. The quartet do everything themselves, firstly setting up their own label (Spirit Of Spike Island), creating merchandise, arranging gigs and their own publicity.
And through hard work and sheer force of will, it’s working. The band have built up a devoted following and recently appeared on the bill for the opening night of the BBC 6 Music Festival. Best of all, by drawing a definitive line in the sand in being so proudly and openly Madchester influenced, they have made themselves immune to that criticism.
And yes it is derivative of the era, but when nostalgia is such big business why worry? For those that were around at the time, it evokes powerful memories, and for those who weren’t Afflecks Palace’s music is the soundtrack to a summer that never happened.
Yet it’s not rigidly retro; on this, Afflecks Palace’s second album, the group are showing signs that they are willing to venture further afield.
Whether it’s the lilting piano on Patchwork Quilted Veins or multi-layered textures on Ghosts On The Underground, the band are displaying a commitment to development, which is best signified by Dan Stapleton on guitar.
Perpetually restless throughout, he’s snarling on the former while spindly and dexterous on the likes of Dancing Is Not A Crime. The opening track on the album, it bounces into view with a snappy melody and – although it takes an age to get to the chorus – its infectious sun-kissed swirl arrives like sunshine on a grey day.
Afflecks Palace singer (and producer) J Fender also flexes his muscles in both areas, although he gallantly allows his vocals to become very nearly consumed on the muscular sounds of Ghosts On The Underground, once again enabling Stapleton to channel what is presumably a John Squire fantasy.
Meanwhile, on the snappy and boisterous Holiday there is a real sincerity and tenderness in his vocals, while on standout track Wide Eyes On The Night Bus there’s the dichotomy of a chorus riddled with profanities (‘I’m so fucked up’) against a beautiful melody.
As the title alludes to, it’s a tale of what happens after a chemical-enhanced night out and, while the chorus may not be especially aspirational, it’s an identifiable reality.
Regardless, the track is quite beautifully nostalgic (that word again) with some serious sky-kissing from Stapleton and is a good companion piece to the yearnful I’m So Glad You’re On Ecstasy (see a pattern?).
Elsewhere, Wake Up! (‘stand up, stand tall’) rattles before it goes fully widescreen, while Hey Stranger contains unique timings and a shuffling selection of cross-rhythms.
While it does perhaps include some surplus tracks, there’s enough here to intrigue those in their fifties and those in their teens.
A welcome slither of summer in this dank spring with a promise of more to come.