Nice weather report, you might comment, but where’s the music review?
Ah, your patience will be rewarded, for here comes the journalist’s most favourite of linguistic tools, the shoe-horned metaphor. For it’s no coincidence that I listened to Absentee’s ‘Something To Bang’ on this day. The brass section warms me like the sun on the back of my neck, Dan Michaelson’s rumbling baritone is its perfect compliment, the freshly cut grass smell if you will, and his cynical humour is bittersweet yet refreshing, like your mum’s homemade lemonade after a game of football in the street.
Right, now I’ve got that out of my system I can actually get something meaningful written about ‘Something To Bang’. Kicking in with a Tiger-esque riff which is soon joined by an expansive brass section, I’m reminded of Divine Comedy at their peak. And indeed, Mr Michaelson’s playful vocals are reminiscent of Neil Hannon, with the added bonus of having Jarvis Cocker-like prowess for world-weary story-telling.
Cheekily tackling man’s never-ending quest to get laid as subject matter, the song swings from minimal to vast, never relenting in it’s buoyant pace and driving guitar line.
Absentee provide a light, undemanding example of what upbeat indie pop should sound like. Michaelson’s vocals and subject matter ensure things don’t get too sickly, and the result is very pleasing indeed. Nothing here blows me away, but I’m left with a smile on my face and sometimes that’s all I ask of a piece of music. |
