Album Review
Merchandise - After The End
4 StarsIf the rhetoric around this record was about severe change, this is the rabbit in the hat, the proof that they don’t just talk the talk.
Every showy move on Merchandise’s part gives the impression that they at least feel like one of the biggest bands in the world. They’ve some way to go, of course. ‘After The End’ is the Florida band’s first album on 4AD, following years of low-key releases. It also happens to be their first with a drummer (Elsner Niño) and they’ve even added that all-important saxophonist, Chris Horn (also on guitars and keys). Frontman Carson Cox says they’re a new band, which is probably pushing it a bit far - traces of The Smiths remain in big supply, and ambitious atmospheric rock is still a staple. ‘After The End’ is almost meant to arrive as a helicopter flying over the scene of destruction: the old Merchandise died in the apocalypse, but their offspring somehow made it through the other side.
Whether this fresh-faced and fully-charged incarnation can tackle bigger things is at the heart of ‘After The End’. Previously Merchandise could be found climbing up the walls, basking in their own lifetime’s supply of reverb. Their most immediate song until now, ‘In Nightmare Room’, clocked in past the five minute mark. It was exciting, but it was also self-indulgent, sometimes lacking in purpose.
That side of Merchandise isn’t amiss entirely this time round, but it’s balanced out with songs that kick and scream within a second of their playtime. Few songs strike as fast as ‘Little Killer’, a spiky-riffed centrepiece that probably ought to span twice its actual length - but this is a new Merchandise we’re talking about; one setting themselves limits. ‘Telephone’ harks back to chart-nodding hits from the ‘80s, Cox’s loved-up, breathy chants being backed by dynamic guitar work from David Vassalotti.
When they’re not chugging out numbers that aim straight for the gut, the five-piece are still perfectly happy to bask in sweet, sweeping walls of noise. Opener ‘Corridor’ could just as easily be an emotional swansong. ‘Life Outside The Mirror’, too, is a teary-eyed, strung-out reminder that these guys excel just as much when they’re at a snail’s pace.
There’s these two direct contrasts, then, but in the record’s final half Merchandise seem to find a whole new level, a third way. ‘Looking Glass Waltz’ is an emotional ballad, organs and slam-fisted drums furthering its cause. Cox sings about a “new consciousness”, almost like he’s overseeing a great renaissance from way up above. Then comes the title-track; a doomy, amphitheatred work of gross ambition. If the rhetoric around this record was about severe change, this is the rabbit in the hat, the proof that they don’t just talk the talk. Merchandise aren’t one of the biggest bands in the world, but on this dramatic penultimate track they sound capable of reaching that level. It’s already been a long journey for this band, but it feels like they’re only just beginning to take the right track.
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