Working For A Nuclear Free City - Working For A Nuclear Free City (Melodic)
3/5
By: Charlie Potter
Working For A Nuclear Free City's self titled album starts with a considerately arranged euphoric soundscape, going from this into another again very thoughtfully arranged piece, but somehow, even at this early stage, the trick just sounds like the music from a rubbish cockney gangster film. The whole album carries on ping ponging from two main sounds ('euphoric' and 'gangster'), but unfortunately, as it's so in your face, the latter of the two is much more noticeable, although the majority of the record is both comfortable and subtle.
The sound is very highly produced and is in a way impressive on this front, but I remain unsure as to whether the music actually benefits from it. They even claim the name of their band is ironic, but the fact that they even have to point this out suggests they've worried too much about impressing people and may have just left their audience bewildered. Trying to impress can be a very good thing, but at times Working For A Nuclear Free City seem to be demanding that you be impressed rather than trying to win you over.
But like we said, it's early, and all is not lost. There are parts when the record comes across as really sincere and the upbeat, dance-like nature of the tracks really work, particularly on 'Forever', which thumps along pleasantly whilst an array of sounds grow from the background leaving you feeling, well, energised.
Even today, there's an obsession with mixing dance and so called organic music (as if guitars grow from the ground and aren't made with circuitry that most people don't understand). This band largely do it to good effect, but somehow they seem to be tainted by all the bands that have done it for the wrong reasons, as if it was something that society had to achieve rather than done for the greater good of their music. Also, now there arrives the added down point that such a craft is no longer particularly new or innovative. To put it bluntly, whilst I know there are a lot of fans of both these bands, nobody, not even said fans, wants a bad mix of the Propellerheads and The Stone Roses - it's all just a bit vulgar.
Before this album, the band didn't have a vocalist, so maybe it's no coincidence that 'Forever' is one of the stronger tracks, given that it has no voice on it. Album closer 'The Tree' goes further to prove this point, being as it is probably the best track on the LP, and once again we have a song devoid of vocals. It's a very heartfelt and stripped back piece of music without a touch of malice, and here the band's bravery really pays off, though it pains me to think that they may consider this as merely an album finisher and not a 'proper' song. Instrumentals are fine - yet still many bands don't take them seriously enough (bizarrely, considering the long history music has without vocals, not to mention the growing amount of music being made entirely on a computer).
But still, even if the vocals aren't remarkably strong, it's good that they're there. Most of the arrangements on the album do suit a vocal, but the bored, anonymous voice, words sung as if they're delivering the wisdom of time itself, just doesn't really work. It makes Working For A Nuclear Free City sound like some generic, gloomy northern band - a shame, because they do have the potential to be so much more. But as long as the lack of individuality infects everything, generic artwork and song titles included, they seem to be condemning themselves to a life of scene gigs, which - hey, you never know - could be exactly what they want.
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