The first time I saw Above Them was either in the upstairs of The Gower in Cardiff, or in Le Pub in Newport. I was certainly in the upstairs room of a pub somewhere in South Wales. They played a lot in the two years I was living in Cardiff so it's hard to pin down exactly where and when I saw them. My old housemate was friends with them and they'd often stay in our spare room after they played nearby. They were known almost equally for having great songs and being nice guys, and their shows were always a mixture of both. It would be ages until I met any of them sober.
Somehow it took me absolutely ages to actually buy any of their records. I remember trying to at Punk 'n' Bowl, but there was no one at the merch table. I eventually picked this up in Banquet one day but went on holiday the next day so still didn't get to hear it for another week and a half. By the time I played it I knew half of the songs from hearing them live so often, but it was great to hear them on record. They often get compared to Hundred Reasons, but somehow I hear that more live than here; you can pick up more of the gruff-punk influences, albeit with much less gruff. And if they've written a bad song, they certainly haven't pressed it onto vinyl. The eleven here are all great and I've put For Those Who've Paved the Way onto many mixtapes (and played it on my short-lived university radio show). This Complex Life and Keep Smiling are two of my favourites both live (for their sing-a-long moments) and on the album.
So all in all, Above Them's debut is great and they're an awesome band. To spoil the surprise for when I write about We Are a Danger to Ourselves, I think that's great too. Hopefully by the time I get round to putting a post up about that I'll have learnt some more adjectives.
Format: 12", insert
Tracks: 11
Cost: £9 new
Bought: Banquet Records
When: 22/06/10
Colour: White
Etching: none
mp3s: no
