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Friendlier Up here RED TRACK MUSIC review
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Two neatly attired young brothers with a penchant for blazers, paisley shirts and cool haircuts come...Two neatly attired young brothers with a penchant for blazers, paisley shirts and cool haircuts come together to form a band. "Dear God", you inevitably think of Oasis plodding along like an indestructible piece of boring rock machinery that refuses to give in. Then you think of all the modish bands that have come and gone. Secret Affair, Purple Hearts and all those 'oi oi' bands who missed the point. Not so, Cronin Brothers Inc and The Aftermath have just released the most schizophrenic, frantic, melting pot of a debut album this year.
There are plethora of different influences crashing into each other in this busy yet focused piece of pop art. There are darker and lighter moments, character studies, social vignettes, sweeping string arrangements and songs for the weekend. It's almost too much to take yet leaves you wanting more as any good pop record should.
'Are You Not Wanting Me Yet' acts as the perfect introduction to this extraordinary band from Leeds/ Mullingar/ Drumlish. It's a great single, energetic and sounds good on the radio which is always a bonus. Then just as your getting comfortable they throw you a curve-ball with the tender, brooding and eventually chaotic 'I Wish My Love Would Die'. Lead man Johnny Cronin is the kind of lyricist you really believe.
When he sings those words in the chorus there is an aching in his voice that shows he really means it. There not just the words to a song, they are a feeling at a certain moment in a persons life. Few singers ever achieve that. Weller had it, Ian Curtis had it, Morrissey had it, lost it, regained it, lost it again then threw a strop and ran to LA. Cronin's credibility lies in how the vocal is delivered, it's unexplainable yet identifiable all the same.
'Northern Lingerie' is an excellent tale of working class erotica. It's a Ray Davies like character study for Northerners and even he would have been proud of the lyric, " She said what are you like between the sheets?/You can put your hand there for a cigarette/ So she let his hand get wet." The chiming guitars are in stark contrast to the gritty suburban subject matter.
The mood changes again on 'All I Want Is For You To Be Happy' which for one song has several different personalities. The bands rhythm section of Micheal Cronin on sticks and Duncan Patterson on bass lay the template and while Johnny Cronin jangles his Rickenbacker lead guitarist Justin McNabb launches an all out assault on the song, taking it in several different directions. One minute its nice summery pop, the next a dark frenzied jam. McNabb's lead guitar is really stamped all over this record but not in a horrible muso kind of way. He plays within the song rather than around it and it serves the music brilliantly.
This is evident on 'Need' with its urgent opening and the little touches of staccato that dash around the song playfully. 'Hollywood Remake' sounds like the Jam and the Specials trying to outdo each other in the studio while The Enemy look on and take notes. The record reaches it's zenith on 'Joyful Mystery', a spaced out jam of a love song complete with weeping strings and beautiful lyrics. "The mystery of birth/ The mystery of Death/ the mystery of life when there's nothing left………..but she." Poignant, touching and strong. Those words will not leave you quickly.
It looks like to me that this band don't give a crap about whats hip and whats not. They love music and whatever they like they will take and push it along their own road. Style is definitely not regarded above content with these guys. They look good, sound damn good, are devoid of bullshit and have impeccable taste. They have taken the best of Irish and British Pop and put it to rights. This record will be hard to remove from my turntable.
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Friendlier Up Here Totally Dublin
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The hardest working band in Irish showbiz? The Aftermath are tireless exponents of their art and tha...The hardest working band in Irish showbiz? The Aftermath are tireless exponents of their art and that hard work ethic has definitely paid off on an album that mixes monster riffs, insightful lyrics and naggingly catchy melodies into one of the years most satisfying homegrown records to date. That’s not to say that The Aftermath’s gargantuan sound is only palatable for an Irish audience. Far from it; this is music that reaches across continents. The band have cleverly deployed classic elements of American and British beat groups, given it a twist of glam and created a bunch of tracks that could sit quite happily on radio playlists anywhere in the western world.
Anthemic perfectly sums up the opening tracks as lead vocalist Johnny Cronin imbues every line with a passion and integrity sadly lacking throughout the nu indie scene. When Johnny sings the chorus of All I Want Is For You To Be Happy, you believe him implicitly, mainly because one couldn’t fake this sentiment with a delivery like this. The lead single and album opener Are You Not Wanting Me Yet? Is a belter that fuses kitchen sink drama with a Bryan Ferry vocal quirk over a backbeat of early R.E.M to produce something that sounds like a hit single. Gasping for breath the barely amplified strumming of I Wish My Love Would Die initially soothes before turning into the type of reverb soaked epic that propelled the Walker Brothers into sixties pop folklore. Northern Lingerie introduces a psychedelic twist to their layered arrangements as acid tinged ape hashish sitars to form one of the albums perfectly realised pop songs. One Is Fun is perhaps too redolent of the recent Franz Ferdinand/ Kaiser Chiefs Britpop movement to stand out, even if it is an old rollicking tune. Far more satisfying are tracks like Need, Joyful Mystery and Six Days To Saturday which see the band joyously go hell for leather albeit with an undercurrent of darkness that lifts the songs out the ordinary. Watch this space.
John Brereton
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Friendlier Up Here Irish Examiner Review
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Mark O Sullivan
4/5
Named for their favourite Rolling Stones record , The Aftermath have gone ab...Mark O Sullivan
4/5
Named for their favourite Rolling Stones record , The Aftermath have gone about the old fashioned way, gigging tirelessly and releasing three hit singles before recording this, their debut album. The strategy is laudable; every song smacks of a band that have played together long and hard enough that each member knows exactly what contribution they must make to the whole.
The sonic assault is full-on throughout. Anyone who has wilted under the relentless sincerity of Ireland’s standing army of acoustic troubadours will welcome an album that wears its coiones proudly on its sleeve.
Led by the Cronin brothers of Drumlish, Co Longford, via Leeds- Johnny on guitar and vocals and Michael on drums- The Aftermath also includes Justin McNabb on guitar and Martin Gray on bass and a handful of illustrious guests, like the Waterboys Steve Wickham on violin and Style Council’s Helen Turner on keyboards.
Johnny Cronin has a nice line in lyrics that reveal some surprising influences; I Wish My Love Would Die samples the brief Samuel Beckett poem of the same name; Hollywood Remake describes call centres as “the new factories, the workhouses for the poor”; while Joyful Mystery includes the poignant couplet, “She’s Maria Callas, I’m John McCormack singing in front of the Pope”.
The Aftermath have carved out a sound that is distinctly their own. The worst that could be said about this album is that it is too long.
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Friendlier Up Here Metro Review
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4/5
Nobody could accuse Anglo-Irish newcomers The Aftermath of trying to spark a musical revoluti...4/5
Nobody could accuse Anglo-Irish newcomers The Aftermath of trying to spark a musical revolution. Full of howling guitars and unabashedly anthemic lyrics, their debut album vaults fro the speakers in a manner that suggests songwriter Johnny Cronin spent his youth soaking up the music of Coldplay and Oasis. Certainly, this is an album that owes more to Cronin’s North of England teenage years than to his childhood in Longford (Cronin, who formed the band with his drumming brother Michael, moved to Leeds with his family a decade ago). Still, for what it is, Friendlier Up Here is frequently glorious: One is Fun is a super sized arena sing-along that lets Cronin stretch his rich Scott Walker vocals (one wonders how it will come across in the pokey club venues The Aftermath will have to conquer before moving on to greater things); Hollywood Remake sounds like the Kaiser Chiefs with a few extra brain cells. Say hello to Britrock’s latest heroes- who just happen to be Irish.
Eamon de Paor
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Friendlier Up Here RTE Guide Review
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3.5/5
Naming your debut single after a Delia Smith cookbook isn’t the most rock’n’roll way of ope...3.5/5
Naming your debut single after a Delia Smith cookbook isn’t the most rock’n’roll way of opening your account for world domination. But that’s the thing about Longford (via Leeds) band The Aftermath. There’s a knockabout humour on a debut that takes in both serious intent and a gift for not taking themselves overly to heart. The towering standouts are recent singles Are You Not Wanting Me Yet?, a spiralling power pop success, and All I Want Is For You To Be Happy, which sees a desperate vocal crash up against great slabs of guitar.
Overlooking Paris may have a slinky Jonathan Richman tongue in chic charm, but The Aftermath truly lose their path for much of the latter half of the album before coming good again on sophisticated closing track Song Of A Graveyard . More of that kind of ambition and you can forget Delia; at this rate the next album will be far more Heston Blumenthal.
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Friendlier Up Here Cork Evening Echo Review
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4/5
A breezy and uplifting collection of perfect pop songs, Friendlier Up Here is a confident deb...4/5
A breezy and uplifting collection of perfect pop songs, Friendlier Up Here is a confident debut album that promises a lot and delivers.
This long-player was two and a half years in the making and features a host of guest appearances from the likes of the Waterboy’s Steve Wickham, Damien Rice cellist, Vyvienne Long and Paul Weller’s keyboardist Helen Turner. Sonically, this release gives a nod to the likes of Echo and the Bunnymen, Roxy Music and David Bowie. A real strength of this album is just how varied and well produced the songs are. Standout tracks include Overlooking Paris, There’s A Darkness and Joyful Mystery.
Mark McAvoy
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Friendlier Up Here Galway Advertiser Review
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One of the first things you notice about Friendlier Up Here is just how big and bold the production ...One of the first things you notice about Friendlier Up Here is just how big and bold the production is, giving it the feel of work by a seasoned band, not a group of lads making their debut.
Given that Karl and David Odlum (Ann Scott, The Frames), Phil Vinyl (Pulp), and Ger MacDonald (U2) were all involved in some aspect of it, this is not surprising.
Yet a good production can do nothing if you don’t have the tunes, and this Leeds-Irish band has them in spades. ‘Are You Not Wanting Me Yet?’ is a full throttle opening track, all dramatic chorus and quiet loud dynamics. ‘Northern Lingerie’ is full British nudge-nudge power pop, and big hooks. The inspired ‘There’s A Darkness’ and the reflective ‘Joyful Mystery’ show just what a songwriter band leader Johnny Cronin is.
It’s an absolute treat, and along with Ham Sandwich, The Aftermath have raised the bar for Irish guitar based indie-pop for the rest of this year.
Kiernan Andrews
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Friendlier Up Here Hot Press Review
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3/5
Having earned their musical stripes working the UK and Ireland touring circuit, picking up fr...3/5
Having earned their musical stripes working the UK and Ireland touring circuit, picking up friends and fans along the way and with three top 20 singles under their independent belts, The Aftermath present their debut album Friendlier Up Here. The album features hit single ‘One Is Fun’ and live favourite ‘All I Want Is For You To be Happy’. A record of uncompromising, inspired rock anthems, this stellar debut shows just what The Aftermath can do.
