so, another new album review, then. and, for a change, an actual, new artist, look you see. quite a few of this band (at least one) was born in a different century to me, with the one they were hurled into the world in being the one we currently live in. no matter how i preferred the one before. right, well, in this instance the vibes under consideration come from a new band called Inhaler, and take the form of their debut album, It Won't Always Be Like This. a title which has all sorts of connotations in the present day, but one which seems to stem from them long forgotten, halcyon days before March 2020. out of 2019, from what i can gather.
matters of provenance for me hearing this particular record? a somewhat worrying trend is that one of them social media things, facebook to be exact, has clocked that i can be quite an easy mark for their advertising stuff. having experienced several years of them stumbling and showing me adverts that i have no interest in, eventually they have clocked me, and are increasingly offering me ways to part with coins that i happen to find most agreeable indeed.
when an advert for "Inhaler" cropped up, i paid half attention. to my eyes, the image, of a small-ish size, looked like that of what i presumed to be an American band, doing a reasonably good take on how a early to mid central 90s sub-a list British band may style themselves. except the one, which would be the one i now know is the drummer. he looked most stylish, and reminded me the way of a very dear friend used to look, back in University, before such look was opted by the "indie" bands.
having little, or no, interest in the immediate history of the band (i was content to assume American), off i went to do what i do not like, which is "stream" a couple of songs, to see if the look which i found interesting was backed up by a decent sound. close enough to it, really. the first thing i stumbled on was the titular track of the album, and i rather liked what i heard. not crazy, wow, liked, enough to warrant a partially educated gamble, what with the official website for the band offering their debut album (which i was unaware was a new release, within the week, at the time) for all of £5 plus postage.
it was so that my copy arrived in the post (blessed by Royal Mail) one Saturday morning. which happened to be the same Saturday morning i clicked on the BBC website and observed a headline, with their usual emphasis on avoiding bias and that, which read "Bono's son's band reaches number one with debut album". yes, i was vaguely aware of Bono having a son, for he was on the cover of the most recent U2 album, but had no idea (or interest) in what he may have done. then a glance at the picture gave every indication (as the article confirmed) that the band in question was indeed Inhaler. oh.
no, i don't believe matters of parental provenance influenced my listening, but i would have preferred to have only discovered so after. no matter. for those in a rush, and yet for some reason are still reading this, it turns out the album is quite good. much, much more polished and refined than one would suspect or expect for a debut, but not so bad. all i have heard on this record suggests that if they can survive the imminent, inevitable onslaught of tags concerning how 50% of the parents of 25% of the band happen to be in U2, then they are one of them bands with every chance of getting better and better as their career progresses, rather than one of them which throws all the good stuff at an audience at once, then find the tank is rather empty when a refill is sought.
the marketing has been really f*****g clever with this one. cheeky, if you will. above is an extract, or moment, from the booklet what comes with the CD. this of course gives every sense or indication that Inhaler are well and truly "old school" rock and roll, they have built an audience, for look at the crowd size that have gone to see them before a record (proper) is out. whereas i don't have an ounce of doubt they had a decent support, i am going to go out on a limb and suggest that, perhaps, maybe, possibly, it is so these images just might have been off of the gigs the did in support of Noel Gallagher. a rather prestigious gig which i am sure they got on merit. and to clarify, note, to use a very broad term, that thing which is nepotism exists in every industry and every business in the world, and the only ones who ever complain of it are the ones not to be direct beneficiaries, so enjoy the ride.
as this is now several paragraphs in, maybe i should comment on, or consider, the music. presently the record is on the stereo again (third or fourth play), and track six, My King Will Be Kind, is on. here they seem to go a bit mock-blues and hey we have a wah-wah pedal, also some rude and derogatory words in it. it is a song that starts well, but kind of drifts off, much of the rest of the album is far better.
polished is the one word review of this record. suspiciously very well prepped and all polished up, apparently ready for stadium audiences, would be the expanded review. not quite to the extent of losing the soul of the band entire, and certainly not as dull or as boring as the comforts of the unbelievably, overwhelmingly f*****g bland The Killers, but it does lurch dangerously close to such areas from time to time.
like for like comparisons are something at once i wish to avoid, but often use as it is the only real way, in words here, to give a sense of what a band sounds like. and, on that note, or to this effect, the more i play the record, the more i am thinking "this is a Stereophonics album". which isn't so bad a thing to get called i suppose. but, i would fancy, they, the band, would quite like to get to a stage where people are saying it "sounds like an Inhaler album".
it will be so that, for much of August, this album will reside near the stereo, and get played a few times here and there. after the month, and more for time rather than the month itself, my suspicion is that it won't get played all that often. but, agreeable listening for now.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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