We all know Kate Nash, even those of us who would rather not. Myspace, Lilly Allen, the fact that the release of this, her debut album, was brought forward by two months due to popular demand and all the rest. And of course we all know ‘Foundations’: with its ubiquity, its repetitive melody and its whiny estuary accent it has been the love/hate song of the summer. For those that care, the worst fears for ‘Made Of Bricks’ will be that it is an album built entirely on the ‘Foundations’ of a single that makes pun-avoidance nigh on impossible.
The main surprise on ‘Made Of Bricks’ is the amount of classical piano-playing there is (something clearly present on ‘Foundations’ but that managed to pass at least me by un-noticed under that overpowering vocal melody), making Nash sound more like a mockney Regina Spektor or Dresden Dolls parody than a Lilly Allen wannabe (see in particular the bouncy melodrama of ‘Skeleton Song’). The songs are rooted in the same quotidian teenage language as Allen or Jamie T, though, with several following the same ‘girl-at-boy’ rant pattern as ‘Foundations’. While probably perfect material for teenage girls (at times you wonder how close she is to having her own kids TV show a la S Club), it quickly becomes tired for anyone else. This is largely because she doesn’t have the lyrical depth or trickery of a Jamie T, with songs like ‘We Get On’ reading like direct out-takes from a diary hidden under her bed as opposed to the cutting social commentary of much of ‘Panic Prevention’. Also, clearly swearing is an integral part of modern society, but the oft-used argument that it shows a lack of vocabulary or creativity is an undoubtedly valid one. What then, Ms Nash, are we to think when the third track of your album opens thus: “Why you being a dickhead for? Stop being a dickhead / Why you being a dickhead for? You’re just fucking up situations / Why you being a dickhead for? Stop being a dickhead / Why you being a dickhead for? You’re just fucking up situations”.
Perhaps she deserves the benefit of the doubt with this, for the following ‘Birds’ is a genuinely poignant chav-ballad that touchingly explores the difficulties of inarticulacy. Beautifully constructed and drenched in slide guitar it is a fine moment and there are others on what is in reality a far from offensive album. The ‘loved and lost’ lyrics of ‘Merry Happy’, for example, are excellent in places: “Sitting in restaurants, thought we were so grown up / But I know now that we were not the people that we turned out to be… Can’t take back these hours but I won’t regret / cos you can grow flowers from where dirt used to be”. ‘Pumpkin Soup’s chorus is pure timeless pop with some great harmonies, ‘Skeleton Song’ is great in parts and next single ‘Mouthwash’ is a simple but effective assertion of the virtues of normality.
On the other hand, these positives are just about outweighed by negatives and in context the previously annoying ‘Foundations’ is actually one of the highlights. ‘Dickhead’ and ‘Shit Song’ are both poor, the latter being unfortunately named for this very reason. The entertaining ‘Mariella’ is let down by the awkward phrasing and the fact that at times Nash sounds like Catherine Tate’s foulmouthed ‘Nan’ character. And at its most pronounced, that estuary accent and its intonations can be grating at the very least, something exacerbated by Nash’s continual insistence on multiplying the number of syllables in any given word by about fifty.
Criticisms aside, Nash has a short-term career secured by the hype and undoubted initial success of this album. The long-term will be decided on her ability alone – hype can only last so long (or am I being naïve…). There certainly seems enough song-writing talent here that, given a bit of time, could come up with a genuinely good album, especially if she branched out more from the teenage girl ‘dear diary’ stuff. But one wonders whether by the time that happens things will have moved on too much for sustained success (probably why the record company rushed this release through). There are some decent moments, and despite some accusations to the contrary the girl can definitely sing, but ‘Made Of Bricks’ comes up short in too many places to be considered anything better than average.
First published on rockfeedback.com. See it here.
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