The Strange Death Of Liberal England are the kind of band that people like to talk about. From their provocative mouthful of a name, to their instrument-swapping, mute placard-raising, ball of energy of a live show, they are a band who seem destined and delighted to be in the spotlight. Following two well-received singles, the Portsmouth-based band’s first real attempt to secure an extended stay in this spotlight comes in the form of this eight track mini-album released on excellent indie Fantastic Plastic.
As a band they are often compared to Arcade Fire due to the grandiose nature of their songs, and, while for most of ‘Forward March!’ they don’t sound too much like them, this is by no means a worthless comparison. For just like Win Butler’s gang this six piece look rather an unlikely bunch until they start playing, they seem to be considerably emotionally invested in their music, and, most importantly, they create some quite wonderful noises. It will not go unnoticed with the discerning music fan that a certain Canadian band also released a self-titled mini-album/EP before gaining word of mouth notoriety for ‘Funeral’. There is more than mere Arcade Fire apeing to this South Coast band, though. There are hints of a number of other Canadian bands, including A Silver Mt Zion and Godspeed!, and some British, but in reality The Strange Death have crafted a sound all their own.
This is thanks in part to the rather distinctive voice possessed by frontman Adam Woolway. Like the band’s name, it is an instant opinion-polariser sounding at times frail, at times harsh and always unique. It is this voice, and the grand post-rock-like nature of The Strange Death’s songs, mostly building into sweeping shout along choruses, that make ‘Forward March!’ such an arresting work. It is based around the Strange Death’s magnum opus and debut single ‘A Day Another Day’ with its delicate, tortured opening that builds to the magnificent declaration “We are Bandini, Arturo Bandini!” (citing John Fante’s hero), delivered in glorious fashion. Another literary figure, this time Keats, is referenced in the band’s second single, the anti-capitalist pastoral vision that is ‘Oh Solitude’. Preaching the qualities of art over the rat race (“I paint my dreams upon the wall cos they can’t hear me”) it finds them at their most Arcade Fire-sounding.
Quite frankly, though, there isn’t a duff track on this very promising debut. The opening ‘Modern Folk Song’ and closing ‘Summer Gave Us Sweets But Autumn Wrought Division’ are cases in point. The former begins as gently as a folk song could before exploding into a cacophony of guitars and soaring vocal harmonies, while the latter is a beautiful post-rock instrumental that provides the perfect culmination to the album. In between, the band turn their hand to a variety of folk and post-rock sing-a-longs, from the epic ‘I See Evil’ to the hypnotic sea shanty ‘An Old Fashioned War’, the sound of which is perhaps inspired by their South Coast roots. The furious duo of ‘God Damn Broke and Broken Hearted’ and ‘Mozart on 33’ see Woolway’s voice at its angriest, with a snarling bile-spitting quality to it, the latter sounding like an apocalyptic vision from some sort of musical from the underworld.
At eight songs it is would be easy to see this as a the work of a band with not enough songs, but it when ‘Summer Gave Us Sweets…’ fades out it does seem almost like the closing moment of a completed ‘work’. It is perhaps more to the band’s credit that they did not pad out the collection with some instrumental fillers or b-sides and allowed this set to stand alone. That said, it is certainly not a perfect album and ‘Forward March!’ does have the feeling of a band that are still locating and honing their sound. It is, though, a pleasure listening to them doing so.
They seem a band truly treating music as an art form, both on stage and on record, something that is a joy to behold. It is difficult not to get drawn in by the intensity of ‘Forward March’ – emotion positively drips from the speakers – and if you allow yourself to be it is guaranteed to be a rather wonderful experience. Surely one of the most interesting British debuts of the year.
First published on rockfeedback.com. See it here.
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