Album Review :: Merchandise - After The End

Merchandise

After The End

August 25 2014 (4AD)

6/10

Words: Dave Beech

Though Merchandise hail from Tampa, their latest offering 'After the End' seems to have far more in common with 1980s Britain than contemporary Florida, which given the production credit falls to Gareth Jones (Erasure, Depeche Mode), comes as little surprise. That doesn't mean to say that Merchandise are in any way derivative, however. And nor do they stick to a particular aesthetic long enough to carve themselves in to a rut. At least, not until the latter half.

Indeed, the album opener 'Corridor' itself is both entirely instrumental, and like the record it introduces, constantly moving forward. 'After the End' doesn't truly get going until tracks two and three however; 'Enemy' is full of Smiths-esque jangles and the lite-psych of the Stone Roses whilst its follow up 'True Monument' slows the pace a little whilst still reading from The Book of Morrissey, in fact, it isn't until the synth-driven, motorik tones of 'Green Lady' that tastes of the producer's former credits even make even the slightest of appearances.

From 'Green Lady' onwards though, the record begins somewhat of a downward spiral, only slowed by the inclusion of 'Little Killer' and the eponymous 'After the End'. It's from this point that the already tame pace of the record slows to a crawl; tracks take on a bombastic air of grandeur and begin to sound like self-indulgent balladry. Should the length of these tracks been somewhat shorter, then the self-indulgence would have been made more palatable. As it stands though, tracks such as 'Looking Glass Waltz' and 'Life Outside the Mirror' meander towards their conclusions and really dam the album's flow.

The aforementioned 'Little Killer' does provide a final burst of energy from the band however, and the positioning of the title-track after the sleep-inducing 'Looking Glass Waltz' really does make it stand out all the more. For a band who took their name from a Fugazi song though, a little more might have been expected. Sure, this a change in direction for Merchandise, but it's not one which always works in their favour. Charming in parts , beige in others, 'After the End' is a record which occasionally gallops, but mainly canters and isn't likely to win them over any new fans in a hurry.