Check out the opening numbers of There’s More To It Then Climbing, and you’ll come away pretty certain that you’re know where Decent Criminal are headed, but stay the course and you’ll find that the fizzy pop-rock of those opening shots, as engaging as it is, is only the start, and the band have a far more interesting direction in mind. A band clearly possessed of an encyclopaedic knowledge of the alt-rock scene, the sharp-eared will catch references to Eels, Weezer, Smashing Pumpkins and Feeder amidst the myriad elements the band carefully craft into the mix and the result is an album that keeps you guessing over the course of its far-too-short runtime.
Kicking off with Driving Decent Criminal immediately pull me back to a world where the likes of Everclear and Sebadoh lurked in the US underground, occasionally throwing out singles (such as the former’s Heartspark Dollarsign or the latter’s Flame) that captured a wider imagination, without sacrificing that fundamental otherness that made them alternative acts in the first place. As such, while the press release references the likes of Idles, Decent Criminals’ heritage can be traced further back – to the sunny pop of the seventies, combined with the guitar driven angst of the mid-90s, and it’s glorious to hear that sound again. Driving is a great start, filled with heart and soul, and it’s neatly followed by Soothe, a track that recalls the effervescent pop-rock of Feeder circa Buck Rogers, with a similar dynamic thrust. After such a strong start, the band throw a curveball in the form of the sub two-minute Same, a twitchy, Beck-esque piece built around looped drums and distorted vocals. It provides a neat segue to the harder-edged Blind, which has some great vocal harmonies and a blistering central guitar riff. The first side ends with the quirky pop of You Dog, a track built around electronic drums, which is eerily reminiscent of The Eels’ debut album. It’s a lovely little number, unexpectedly blissed out, and the perfect foil to the more guitar-heavy numbers on offer.
Opening the second side, the band dispense with the harder elements almost entirely, and the gritty guitar jangle of Wanna Be proves to be a restrained, slow-burner with vocals lost in a shoe-gaze haze of reverb. It’s the sort of sound the Pumpkins enjoyed playing with around Gish, and here the band refine the approach and make it their own. It’s followed by the similarly somnolent Time, a short piece that paves the way for the slow-build of Each Time, which starts out as a straight-forward indie track, only for increasingly agitated guitar noise to start taking things in a darker direction. The band nod towards the art-pop of Flaming Lips next, with the deft harmonies and gentle strum of Hold Me Down, and then it comes to an end with the gorgeously spacey ballad of Outside left to draw the curtain gently down on the listener.
Man, I really enjoyed There’s More To It Than Climbing, a sun-kissed album with a hardcore edge lurking just beneath the surface and hooks to die for. An unexpected throwback to the mid-90s, it takes influence from a number of places, but the most notable feature is the sheer heart with which the band imbue their songs. It’s a great album, eclectic and vital, with nothing overdone or out of place, and it was an absolute pleasure to review. 9/10
