EVANS THE DEATH – Expect Delays

diymag.comEvans The Death’s second album practically picks up where their self-titled debut left off – the latter’s melancholic closer, ‘You’re Joking’, serves as a neat predecessor to the first 30 seconds of ‘Expect Delays’’ opener, ‘Intrinsic Grey’.

After that first 30 seconds though, the guitars and drums kick in, and Katherine Whitaker’s vocals become less delicate and more of the angry yowling sort – in the best way. As she sings about never being enough, it’s hard to tell who she’s angrier at – society or herself.

Compared to their first release, the band seem to have sharpened up. Songs like ‘Terrified’, with its clever keyboard moments and funky bass, and the brash ‘Clean Up’ seem more polished, although they’re sure not any cheerier. ‘Idiot Button’, with the painfully realistic line, “I can’t explain the gaps in my employment history” will more than certainly connect with the hoards of unemployed grads who’ve had to move back in with mum and dad. It’s a wholly relatable album for anyone a bit miserable, really.

‘Expect Delays’ chugs along at a pleasant pace – ‘Bad Year’ is particularly cheerful, considering its title. If there’s a delay to be had, it’s probably the fact that it takes a few listens to warm to the album as a whole. No idea what the cover art of pastel watercolour bloodhounds has to do with anything, mind. The title track doesn’t really shed any light on it either, but its use of what sounds like TV samples alongside some excellent guitar riffs is a nice touch, as well as a sign that the band have tried to step it up on album no. 2.

The funereal dirge of excellently grungy lead single ‘Don’t Laugh At My Angry Face’ comes weirdly late on in the album, before things close a bit quietly again on ‘Don’t Beat Yourself Up’. Whether it’s advice to others or to her self, Whitaker ends things on a forgiving note – “Give yourself a chance.” While you’re at it, give this band one too.

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pastemagazine.com“Intrinsic Grey” sets the tone. The first song on Evans the Death’s second album is a glorious trainwreck, a stuttering, amped-up gem that regularly collapses under the weight of its own feedback. This is calamity-packed pop music, storm and stress with a melody, with guitars careening into each other and a rhythm section that lurches like a multi-car pile-up down on the highway.

Evans the Death is a four-piece pop band from London that finds beauty within noise. Naturally they’re on Slumberland in the States—they sidle up just fine alongside Black Tambourine or Boyracer. Their strongest asset is Katherine Whitaker’s voice, which is powerful but tender, joyous and carefree on one song and heartbreakingly sad on the next. Her voice is like a jar of honey on top of a stack of busted amps.

“Intrinsic Grey” isn’t a false start—the band loves a nice din. “Terrified” almost buries a bouncy organ riff and danceable rhythm under sheets of guitar fuzz. The dirge-like “Don’t Laugh at My Angry Face” seems to coat every instrument with distortion, from bass to guitars to Whitaker’s keyboards. Imagine Les Rallizes Denudes if they wrote a pop duet in English that peaks just a little bit lower in the red than most of their stuff.

Still, this is a pop band. The record’s highlights come on such meat-and-potatoes indie-pop songs as “Sledgehammer” and “Bad Year,” where the band’s love of noise works alongside their knack for melody and catchy riffs to produce timeless pop songs. It comes to a head on “Clean Up,” which is like a two-minute cathedral of guitar riffs and frantic drumming with Whitaker singing for forgiveness. It’s a song that would work on college radio or lovelorn indie rock mixtapes from any era. Tough but sugary, Expect Delays is an unhindered blast.

„Expect Delays“ ist ein glorioses Biest!