Whilst Apologies, I Have None has never been an all out acoustic act, this latest 7” marks somewhat of a departure from the stripped down two man approach, the result being a sound that’s a little more, well, beefy. It shouldn’t come as all that a surprise then to find that the London duo is now a quartet. This two-tracker, recorded back in February, is the first output in this new formation and, more importantly, it’s pretty damn decent.
‘Sitting in Vicky Park‘ balances nicely between that ‘nearly acoustic’ sound and a more balls out punk rock vibe, yet still manages to corral those folk tendencies. Lyrically it’s thoughtful and intelligent (“The numbers on a payslip are no indication of worth”) without being condescending. It’s idealistic without actually being all that naïve. Oh, and it’s catchy as fuck! A real drunken pub/house gig sing-along.
To be honest, all of the above applies to the flip side, ‘Joiners & Windmills’. It’s another galloping dose of those muscled-up guitars. The dual vocals make for attentive listening and the split dichotomy of big sounds and almost completely stripped out solitary vocals means this is well above par.
Basically, then, this 7”, and A,IHN in general, is folk-punk. Yes those old comparisons to Against Me still stand-up to an extent, but there’s certainly a home grown feel to proceedings, and it’s Crazy Arm that comes to mind, only not quite that big a sound.
There’s a lot of love for Apologies, I Have None going around at the moment, if you know where to look of course, and this release only strengthens that belief. Intrepid, resolute and intriguing, this is the sound of a band that may not have mass market appeal but is essentially really, really bloody good. More please.
Alex