The A.M. - 'The A.M.' (Storm)
4/5
By: Thomas Hannan
Past associations can be both a blessing and a curse. Whether anyone would have raised an eyebrow at Michael Tighe's The A.M. outfit if it had not been for the fact that he was a long-standing member in the band behind one of the most influential artists of all time (a certain Jeff Buckley, no less) is a point for contention. People should have, though, because The A.M. make very good records. But once this fact is known, no matter how strong an album this debut is, boy does it have a lot to live up to; OK, it's no 'Grace', but then again Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers' ain't no 'Mona Lisa' either.
And more to the point, it sounds nothing like Jeff Buckley. This isn't a bad thing; there is some valid music out that that doesn't sound like Jeff Buckley. (Fine, maybe parts could fit on 'Sketches For: My Sweetheart The Drunk', but they'd stick out like rather sore thumbs). At its simplest, it's punchy garage-rock. At its best, it takes that template on a subversive, string-soaked journey to savour.
The A.M. could do straight-up pop, but they don't; they do pop sitting in the gutter of the weird, staring up at normality and realising it's much less interesting that way. The marvellous opening coupling of the Bowie-esque 'Changeling' and recent single 'If I Was The Sheriff' especially smack of just that. Often it teeters on the brink of going severely heavy (a terrific 'Isolation'), but - oddly - not once does. Nonetheless, the fact that 'The A.M.' can always back up its calmer moments with such a peril makes something about this record a little uneasy.
It's a factor that can be straightforwardly pleasurable even at its most uncomfortable, 'It's Pouring', for example, being meagre in composition yet rich in melody, threat and lyrical intrigue, the latter being something lacking in the record's less worthy moments. Songs often rely on either a killer-hook or a captivating string of wordplay, but when both are missing (see 'It's Not For Me'), 'The A.M.' falters. Only at times like these should you be allowed to make legitimate references back to Buckley... Come on, Michael - you co wrote 'So Real'; do yourself credit at least.
'Spellbound' and 'Deep City Diver' arrive to give the record a post-mid-point high, the former especially scintillating with its erratic riffs and nods towards music box-like charm, but there's a disappointing sag to the quality of the last third of the record (save a classy 'There Is A Time') that belies the promise of most of what preceded it. Due to the nature of the players (drummer Parker Kindred also being in that hallowed Buckley outfit), everything about this record is going to be compared to something greater, but what a shame it is to find some of it won't even stand up to the high standards it set for its very self earlier on in the game.
Even the best of the album has admittedly got one hell of a challenge in front of it from anyone who reads anything about the men who made this record. But if every LP was judged using such high criteria, the rock critic's list of 'nice words you are allowed to use' would be even shorter than the measly inventory we presently have. Here's why you know 'The A.M.' is, overall, a great work - simply, it is one by anyone's standards.
Artists in this article: The A.M.
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