Labels: sncl
Review by: MH
This is a release that I have been anticipating for some time. Football, etc.’s first album, “The Draft”, came out in early 2011 and they have been firm favourites of mine since then. It’s been a wait of about two and a half years… although in the past year or so we were given some teasers on the split tape with Square Business (one of those tracks appears on here) and more recently the stunning “Down The Field” on the split 7inch with Plaids.
This is a record that hits dizzy heights from the opening twinkles of the gorgeous first track “Fair,” with its melancholy opening line, “This can’t be right”. That sadness is reflected throughout the record in the lyrics – see “Hut 1” and “Red Zone,” which both bring the misery whilst retaining a delicate beauty. There are many highlights but the title track is spectacular and it leads straight into “Hut 1” which, although I’ve heard it countless times before, still sounds amazing in the context of this new setting – its lyrics still hitting me hard. “Audible” also ends on a perfect note with “Return”. Having moved to the opposite end of the globe, I am always going to connect with the lyrics of this one (“And we can jump on a plane and get there in a day”).
This record is utterly beautiful. As expected, it’s a Football, etc.-sounding record – thick basslines, Lindsay’s lingering vocals and the sad topics of the lyrics. However, it’s just a little bit prettier, a little bit twinklier here and there, and the production is fantastic – it sounds huge. Do I like this record more than “The Draft”? I think I might do – maybe it’s with it being new but I’ve been playing this to death for the past couple of weeks or so and at the moment I’d probably say so.