Formed about six years ago SMALLGANG fuse the not inconsiderable talents of two sets of siblings (if looks and surnames are anything to go by) and they make a good noise. It’s the type of angular, literate, guitar driven indie music that is sure to go down well with bespectacled awkward types anywhere. I mean this in a good way. They are the sort of band you could take to your heart. Two brothers take the vocals and duel with guitars and brother and sister hold it all down and keep it real.
The album leads off with the bold Out Of Nothing. It has a winning bridge and chorus that does the trick of lodging inside your brain. A potential single followed by the single that is Wrong Side. Guitars go hither and thither, snaking and chiming and then erupting and the vocals tell the story, “we’re never happy and we’re never sad/a feeling no one should ever have”. Cockpit posits the narrator as captain of the metaphorical plane of life. This pilot will get us down, maybe too far down? Leaves floats past on an autumnal wind and it’s great to hear the word wardrobe used in a song. The title track starts on a staccato rhythm and the bass really pulls us along. The vocals are slightly richer and up front and it reminds me of Tindersticks. It’s a great album track and possibly my favourite. Made In China is a little more in your face and benefits from the repeated refrain of the title and also the female backing vocals and these could certainly be made more of in the future. Cheap labour indeed.
Comparisons have been made between Smallgang and both Dinosaur Jnr. and Pavement but I must confess I am not really hearing that. They don’t quite have the same dynamic and attitude of those bands at this stage. I hear more British sounds and influences, lets say Ride meets Franz Ferdinand with a touch of Belle and Sebastian? I feel they could crank up the guitar dynamic and interplay, the quiet to loud moments and even the vocals for that matter. It is entirely possible they do this in a live setting so the challenge would be to transfer that to the studio and I think I know how?
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The album seems to dip down at this point and this may be deliberate but I think not. Lost In The Post, Arrows, Kindness and Like A Velvet Glove Cast In Iron kind of pass me by. It may be that the band would have benefited from spending more time with these songs before they hit the studio. There is a sense of ideas not being quite fully formed e.g. the drum tracks are not so vibrant or categorical. 1532 is a riotous finish but it does not leave me wanting more. It may do in an extended live setting but this is a CD album. The bonus track, however, I do like as a postscript. “Through our labours we never die”.
Smallgang are no Garageland but with a little more time in the oven and the helping hands of John Cale, they might well be.
Damnably Records online
Smallgangland online
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