‘We Love Audio’ was recorded in 2006 but is only now being given a release thanks to the medium of free download and Follow the Bear Records (can of Hoffmeister, anyone?). That’s enough to lend itself to a certain amount of trepidation. How good can a release be if it’s been waiting three years for issue? Fear not, this little three-tracker is far from the steaming pile you’d probably expect of such a layover.
In a nutshell, the sound on this E.P. could probably best be described as quaint, melodic, radio-friendly, indie-pop. The vocals are strong, full of charm, heart and very relaxed, the perfect fit for a band that isn’t so much about urgency (that’s not to say it doesn’t have pacier moments) but more about delivering words and a specific sound. One qualm is that track two, ‘We Run’, clocking in at six plus minutes and with a big fade outro feels like it should have been the closing song.
It’s surprising to learn that One Time Champion played a lot of shows in the Canterbury hardcore scene as the band is so far removed from that particular genre it’s nigh on impossible to imagine a sweaty troop of two-steppers getting down to this. There are moments that are reflective of the acoustic/indie/pop bunch (Leighfield, Isaac, et al), and a dash of the likes of Idlewild. There’s a Hertfordshire band by the name of Royston Jones that would have made the perfect bedfellow for this Folkestone outfit.
Notice the past tense? As it stands this is a posthumous release. One Time Champion appears to have unlaced the boots, hung-up the tights and retired from the music world. ‘We Love Audio’ in that case is some kind of bequest. It’s hardly ground-breaking stuff but worth a listen, and certainly more deserving than three dust-collecting years on the shelf. If this is in fact the last hoorah then it’s not a bad little legacy to be leaving.
Alex