The School
"Wasting Away and Wondering" is actually The School's third album, following 2010's "Loveless Unbeliever" and 2012's "Reading Too Much Into Things Like Everything" (The only pathetic excuse I can make for not discovering the band earlier is that Ventura County is a long, long way from Caerdydd...)
I may have previously mentioned once or twice how much I like albums where the opening track sets out a statement of intent. With "Every day", The School's Liz Hunt lays out this album's manifesto - pitch perfect up-tempo soul-infused indie-pop songs about love and loss. Achingly bittersweet with Liz outwardly wish her ex well, "...You found someone to make you look good, Well I'm happy for you now..." you know that finally letting go will prove more troublesome, "... Every day that it wasted with you, Is a day never wasted at all ..." Add a melody that instantly embeds in the skull and to which you can't help shuffling your feet unconsciously to all the while layering on horns and strings before finally top off with sweet, sugar-kissed, vocals. Unless you've got a heart of stone it is impossible to not fall hopelessly in love with this band.
"Love Is anywhere you find it" hits you with a blast of keys before launching into the most beautiful homage of The Supremes - since The Supremes, before Diana Ross got a little too big for her boots. There's a sweeping and incredibly danceable middle-eight full of resplendent brass and orchestral strings, married to a back-beat that offers a hint of Iggy's "Lust for life" meets The Jam's "Beat Surrender" if these two had been produced by Phil Spector. To be honest I half expect this song to subconsciously scream 'keep it mono' at me, so deliciously yet refreshingly retro does it sound (and by now the penny has dropped that The School are exponents of the "moderne c'est déjà vieux" movement).
The reverbed guitar on "All I want from you is everything" is worth the admission price alone for a song which again marries to the Wall of Sound - a theme which to be honest permeates throughout this album - with a little bit of an indie twist, a ridiculously catchy chorus that will probably be quarantined the moment it set foot in the States and a hypnotic melody and killer beat that you'd have to be clinical dead not to sway about the dance floor to - although I honestly suspect that the mosh at any The School gig would be the most choreographed and well-behaved that I'd ever come across (hopefully I'll get the opportunity to find out...)
That uptempo Northern Soul vibe and brass make a triumphant return on "Til you belong to me" and suggests that Northern Soul was never far from a young girl's heart. Liz's vocals are once again nigh-on faultless, dripped in honey and silky smooth. Frankly this album is laughably good it is not true.
"Don't worry baby (I don't love you any more)" evokes not only memories of some of the great US girl groups of the fifties and sixties - the Shangri-Las, Ronettes and Shirelles all spring readily to mind - but comes gift-wrapped in a sound that suggests Phil Spector gets day release from The State Penitentiary. Thanks to Liz's lush vocals, has a put down "...No kisses from me, cos I don't need you any more..." ever sounded so welcoming? Coupled with the rich interplay of orchestral strings and piano and the most angelic of choral harmonies the song is the cherry on the top of this delightful Kirschtorte of an album. Meanwhile "Wasting away And wondering" is another inspired mélange of sixties soul and the sweet vocal harmonisation of those iconic girl groups. The song is incredibly upbeat, building on the most bright and bubbly saxophone and middle-eight. Goes without saying that Liz's vocals are once again au-point - what's not to like?
"Do I love you?" is another glorious soul-stomper that lives long in the conscious and once again suggests that The School have been digging deep into their vault of incredibly danceable Northern Soul gems. This is a song that celebrates life and love, especially as Liz's voice soars as she implores; "...Do I love you? Do I love you? Oh yes I do boy, yes I do..." Frankly if you're not moved by this song you must be a curmudgeonly old bastard.
"He's gonna break your heart one day" is a beautifully dark number and while you half expect the song to morph into the evil twin of "Be my baby" the vocal harmonies are bright and totally contrast the mood of the song. Some reviews suggest the song is a departure from the rest of the album - but take some of those teen tragedies of the early-sixties (The Shangri-Las' "Leader of the pack" or "Terry" by Twinkle - if both were on Mogadon at the time), throw in some heavy and industrial reverbed guitar - the end result would probably sound something like this. The end result is a thoroughly modern twist on a familiar genre and utterly brilliant.
"Put your hand in mine" is another glorious pop song, features a chorus that if it lasted forever would still be too short, while lush strings add an orchestral sheen to another bright and breezy tune that leads into "I will see you soon", a nailed-on contemporary indie-pop tune where vocals and the song's keyboard-led melody run rings around each other before epically fading to a full stop. Unfortunately all good things theoretically come to an end (although that's why they invented the replay button) as the band bring down proceedings with yet another fantastic stomping, chugging song. "My arms, they feel like nothing" is perhaps the greatest sing-along number I've heard all year. The brass sections lifts everything to a fitting finale before one of the longest fades on record leaves you in stunned silence.
"Wasting Away and Wondering" definitely qualifies for one of this Blog's 'Wow, WTF!?!' awards. There isn't a single second of filler on this album. Even the 36 seconds of "My heart's beating overtime" more than suggests that Liz could quite happily turn a hand at a contemporary folk-tinged tune.
It's also the most complete pop album to emerge this year and - despite the fact that the obvious influences are up-tempo early Motown, Northern Soul and 60's US girl bands, all by way of the Brill Building - quintessential UK indie-pop at its finest.
Me? I'm off to mop up the School's back-catalogue. The rest of you need to treat your ears and soul to this album.
Yearlist.
The School (Website)
"Wasting Away And Wondering" (Bandcamp, Elefant)
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