Reverend and the Makers are an ‘Indie Funk Electro’ band hailing from Sheffield and are currently signed to Wall Of Sound Records. The band have been around in their current form since 2005, however have only recently come to fame through their summer dance floor anthem ‘Heavyweight Champion Of The World’. The Sheffield music scene is currently thriving since Arctic Monkeys broke through in late 2005, and in fact an early incarnation of Reverend and the Makers actually consisted of two of their members. Back then the band were called Judan Suki however and it has taken several line-up alterations before arriving in their current form as Reverend and the Makers.
In ‘The State Of Things’, Reverend and the Makers front man Jon McClure gives us his scathing view on the society of today. With lyrical content such as package holidays, getting drunk, and the nine-to-five life; you’ll find nothing here you’ve not heard a hundred times before already elsewhere. The amusing thing is that McClure seems to see himself as some sort of spokesman for a generation, but in reality his lyrics are clichéd drivel of a similar sort of standard you’ve come to expect from your local band currently still studying in sixth form.
The album kicks off promisingly with a couple of neat little numbers from the band. As title track ‘The State Of Things’ begins, you get the impression that the album ahead is going to sound extremely similar to the Arctic Monkeys, and vocally your first impression wouldn’t be far wrong. The first track here is a neat little introduction into the album, and although not the strongest of tracks you’ll ever hear, does still provide some strong entertainment. Right from the word go the miserable lyrics are apparent, however when the sound is this good then this can always be overlooked. As the album continues into second track ‘The Machine’, the music continues to impress. The Electro edge of the band makes the music sound exciting and fresh, and as the band fire their way through ‘The Machine’ it will without a doubt get you moving your feet and dancing to the beat. Impressively catchy, you’ll find yourself hoping the track will never come to an end as it is just so good – however when the track does come to an end, this does not turn out to be a bad thing as from here we launch straight into ‘Heavyweight Champion Of The World’. There is a good reason why this track was such a summer anthem, and in fact the more you listen to this track the more you begin to love it. This one stayed in the top 10 for several weeks over the summer months, and deservedly so. With a mammoth chorus and strong musical back beat, ‘Heavyweight Champion Of The World’ proves to be the albums finest moment. It is after this track however that things begin to go a bit pear shaped for the band.
After the initial buzz the band provide in their first three tracks of the album, the rest of the release never quite hits that same standard again, and in fact the top quality introduction to the album has set the band up for a massive fall in the latter three quarters. Never again in the album will we ever witness such strength of song, and this is sad to see as this album had such a great potential to be one of the albums of 2007.
There is a great deal of Ska influence shown on this album, and a number of other notable genre influences to be found here. It is good to see that there is a large variety of different musical forms here, and although it is clear that the band take on a wide array of influences in their ‘The State Of Things’ album; this does not stop their release from being somewhat of a disappointment. Taking obvious influence from bands such as The Specials and Inspiral Carpets, the album could have been so much more than what it is.
The albums midpoint is marked with the track ‘Sex With The Ex’; a slow number from the band where McClure speaks of this potentially difficult situation. The slow pace of the track seems to suggest a somewhat more serious approach for this track, however the lyrics are laughable and the band fail to impress. McClure in his lyrics seems to attempt the Mike Skinner lyrical approach of saying it like it is in a way that is easy for all to understand, however is not quite such a master of the art as Skinner. Whilst Mike Skinner’s lyrics are often intelligently written and well crafted, McClure’s are simply childish in comparison.
I feel a definite low for the album has to be in their second single ‘He Said He Loved Me’, in which some dreadful lyrics coupled with infuriatingly irritating female vocals make for a disasterpiece of a track. This has to be one of the most annoying tracks to have been released this year, and every time it comes on the radio I curse the person who gave the go ahead for this track to be released as a single. The track does not have one single redeeming feature, and McClure’s swaggering tone here just makes you wonder what he’s got to be so arrogant about.
McClure is perhaps one of the most arrogant men in music at the moment, and in many respects reminds me of Liam Gallagher and the stage presence he possesses. The difference between these two front men however is that Liam Gallagher has good reason to be as arrogant as he is; Oasis are perhaps one of the best Rock bands of our generation, whereas Reverend and the Makers by all accounts are not.
Had this album been released a couple of years back, then I would perhaps not be viewing it in quite such a negative light. The vocals are just far too similar to those of Arctic Monkeys, and although when they first came about the sound was endearing; quite frankly I’m bored of it now. To sum up simply; ‘The State Of Things’ is an Electro edged Arctic Monkeys album. It is not just the tiresome vocals that put me off this album of course as had it been well written I would happily have listened to this album and enjoyed it, but their music just fails to entertain for the most part. An album that started so well and excited so much soon ceased to please and the quality greatly deteriorated as the album progressed. There will no doubt be a reasonably large number of people that go out and buy this album and most of whom will probably be readers of the NME, however this is by no means a strong album and is not one I will be devoting much time listening to in future.
Label: Wall Of Sound
Release Date: 17th September 2007
Rating:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
