Labels: Engineer
Review by: Tom Sloan
Irony “” I got this through for review just the week after I picked up Rydell’s debut ‘Per Ardua Ad Astra’, so I was feeling pretty won over by this band already by the time I gave this a spin.
And fortunately this is more of the same feel-good, gruff vocalled indie-rock, collecting together tracks from all the bands pre-“”¦ad astra’ releases. I love this band, and whilst it may sound very simple, I find myself wanting to listen to their music all the time and as a result the new cd hasn’t been far from the nearest pile for the last couple of weeks. Maybe it’s the fact this is so accessible, yet not in a trite and banal way, – sometimes the guitars give me fleeting reminders of the poppier moments of the get up kids, the promise ring, and chamberlain, whilst somehow remaining fresh-sounding and original. The conclusion I’ve come to, is that Rydell, for all their 90’s indie-rock/pop sensibilities, just sound inescapably English in their songs: there’s something about the lyrics, the non-American accents, and just the sound of the songs that ultimately endears enormously to them.
This cd is pretty worthwhile if you enjoyed “”¦ad astra’, and don’t have any of the other tracks on other releases. Opener “Try 17′ is catchy as anything, with a type of rhetorical style to the lyrics, the kind of which I can’t help but smile when hearing. The next few tracks are equally as fun and infectious with those familiar vocals, and super-melodic guitar lines. “Home’ then appears twice on the record, meaning I now own 3 versions of it”¦not that I mind all that much, the first version on here is by far my favourite, with a quieter, twinkly-er verse, still with that big chorus but slightly more restrained this time.
“Across three parks’ has to be up there as one of Rydells’ best songs. The guitar line is a great hook, the vocals come in, then the band crashes in and it hit’s the “feel good’ level instantly. Fun.
Some tracks on here don’t quite match those on the album proper “” the 2 unreleased songs only hinting at Rydell’s best song-writing “” but “always remember everything’ is a quality package all the same. The entire acoustic 7″ is included, and just reiterates the talent on show really, – I’m quite amazed that “Home’ and “Post College Rock’ work so well. I’d love to hear more of that acoustic guitar in their songs in the future because it really does sound quite unique with the raw sounding vocals.
So, to summarise, a cd that works perfectly in that it’s more Rydell and saves tracking down various old vinyl and comps. I realised the other day that I’ve been buying much of my indie-rock over the last two years from these guys distro, and for what it’s worth, they seem like really great and friendly guys as well. Looking forward to the new album.