Memphis Industries’ indie darlings ABSENTEE follow up their acclaimed debut album ‘Schmotime’ with another damn fine collection of songs.
‘Victory Shorts’ contains all of the expected ingredients and more. A dizzying wall of sound is erected from nowhere as ‘Boy, Did She Teach You Nothing’ kicks in. This is the sound of broken glass as heard through a head thick with Drambuie, rattling drum patterns punctuating the strong and skewered pop sound as the darkness unfolds. Daniel Michaelson’s distinctive vocals put me instantly in mind of the Hywel Bennett character ‘Shelley’, although his take on life is darker, deeper. Vivid scenes come to life, and there’s a real sense of shock as the now-familiar infallible depths of his delivery put enough spin on life to leave it looking positively twisted.
There are plenty of weird scenarios painted here. Where the excellent debut ‘Schmotime’ resonated with drunken sexual irresponsibility, tales populated by the ghosts of dead bodies dumped on the moors, the band’s preoccupation with dysfunctional relationships right out on a limb, ‘Victory Shorts’ gets to grips with a more specific world. Vacant trawls along maternity ward corridors follow in the footsteps of the obsessed, dazed and confused and behind the vacant stares lies a myriad of turmoil.
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The hazy alt-country flavour is still there (arguably the influence of Americana burns brighter): the half-asleep grooves lock during ‘They Do It These Days’ in an attempt to rebel against the SHEER PACE of life, whilst Michaelson’s apathy during such tracks as the maudlin tap-room standard ‘Love Has Had It’s Way’ betrays a wistful and wilful awareness of, along with a total belief in fate.
Fanfare EP title track ‘Bitchstealer’ pulls the rug from underneath; the singalong impact is undoubted, whilst the penultimate track, ‘Pips’, trailblazes by in a blur of guitar mayhem. Ignore ‘Victory Shorts’ at your peril – it will be your massive loss if you do.
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