This album was first released roughly when I lost all interest in most things Indie. It meant that it passed me by. I didn't miss much. I still find it dull. It reminded me of the reasons I looked elsewhere for my musical thrills at the time. It feels like the band is forcing the tunes out, almost out of breath before the end of each track. There's no control or pacing. Chill, dudes. I'm such a snob. The whole Northernness really annoyed me. Riot Vans came close to saving it.
I was quite taken with this album when I first heard it. The lyrics of Fake Tales are still hilarious and When The Sun Goes Down and A Certain Romance are wonderfully-observed slices of life. But coming back to this now, the lumpen backing sounds even more so now. The band aren’t really pulling up any trees. I’d love to hear those songs with a more interesting band behind them. It’s all a bit one-dimensional. Worth it for the words of Fake Tales alone, and the songs pick up a bit towards the end, but it’s all pretty straight ahead for much of this album.