And So I Watch You From Afar - All Hail Bright Futures

I wrote about ASIWYFA's second album, Gangs, a few years ago. I'd not long seen them for the first time and they'd blown me away live. A short while later they released All Hail Bright Futures and I picked a copy up in Banquet after a period of not buying many records. Gangs introduced the idea of the songs having vocals in a very simple way (no actual words), so it wasn't too surprising to hear vocals at the start of All Hail Bright Futures - the line "The sun is in our eyes" repeated throughout Eunoia and Big Things Do Remarkable; it worked.

The surprise for me was quite how many of the songs on All Hail Bright Futures would use vocals - Like a Mouse, Ambulance, The Stay Golden, Ka Ba Ta Bo Da Ka and Young Brave Minds (it's almost easier to count the songs without lyrics, which is a strange thing to say for an instrumental band). It mostly works - they tread that fine line between using some vocals but not too many fairly well. but fall off a couple of times. It doesn't work for me on Ambulance where the band simply spell out the word "ambulance" over and over again. I'm mostly on-board with their style of math-rock, but that songs always feels like they're spelling a word to music simply for the fact that seems like a math-rock thing to do. The trumpet is a nice touch though. Ka Ba Ta... suffers a similar problem, but is more forgettable.

In the years that have followed buying this album, I have tended to go to Gangs when I want to listen to the band. I like All Hail Bright Futures, but the vocals are thing thing that tends to put me off; it's proof you can't please everyone - I got so excited at the hint of vocals on Gangs, but this amount is too much for me! I think if I had the two albums on shuffle that'd be the right balance, although you'd have to group the parts of The Golden Stay together.

I've since seen ASIWYFA a couple more time and they never fail to impress live. At ArcTanGent this year they should have been the headliner on the Saturday night - I think everyone there would have happily watched them for twice as long and well into the night. Much like the first and subsequent times I saw them, they brought the party.

Format: 12", picture sleeve
Tracks: 12
Cost: £15 new
Bought: Banquet Records
When: 18/07/13
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code

And So I Watch You From Afar - Gangs

I bought this record after seeing ASIWYFA for the first time. It was in the Scala on the second night of their tour and they had blown me away. I'd listened to the first album on bandcamp beforehand and thought I knew what to expect, but I was wrong. I'd figured it'd be an evening of mathy-post-rock; instead it was all-out-riffy-as-fuck-party-post-rock, and I was amazed.

Sarah had been ranting about them from the off, but I missed a few chances to see them. When a friend raves adoringly about a band it's usually worth at least checking them out, especially when you respect their music taste (and sometimes even if you don't). She'd probably said the first LP isn't a patch on their live shows, which can be said for this one too. But that's only because their live show was incredible and no one can ever quite capture that on record. This record does come close though. The adrenaline comes through, and some of the tunes are so massive it would be impossible for them not to sound good. I think it was just that the live show was so awesome.

And this is a great record. The opener gets the blood pumping within seconds, and the only rest comes when you have to turn it over. 7 Billion People All Alive At Once is my highlight, the first ever vocals adding so much (still no actual words). I've used it as an opener to mixtapes a number of times. Side 2 doesn't disappoint at all either. The triple gatefold sleeve is pretty lovely too. A great record from an even better live band.


Format: 12", triple gatefold sleeve, insert
Tracks: 8
Cost: £15 new
Bought: gig
When: 03/05/11
Colour: black
Etching: none
mp3s: download