With a name like ‘The All New Adventures of Us’ this lot have to be emo and that is indeed what they are. Infact TANAOU (to be short) are bloody great emo at that. I mean with the lovely shades of blue in the artwork, which ladies and gents is carressed with stars, the band couldn’t be anything else. For further proof just check out the awesomely titled ‘It’s safe to say that things clearly aren’t going too well when the idea of having your head between a rock and a hard place seems positively inviting – part 1’! Ever come across a better name…nope, didn’t think so. Armed with a brand of music which already has their own stamp of authority all over it, this EP, their first, was recorded when the band had an average age of just 19, which considering the musicianship on offer is positively amazing.
Indeed if it wasn’t for the over-experimenting with the final two tracks, TANOU have an EP which would quite easily grasp five stars and clutch them to their chests tenderly. Taking influence from a wide range of Deep Elm bands, there’s more than a hint of ‘Static Prevails’-era Jimmy Eat World on the likes of opener ‘We Can’t Convince The World That Black Is White’. Switching from the downright crazy to the traditional songwriting style, this is a band not afraid to mix things up and come out with some fantastic songs. There’s no formula here, anything and everything goes.
The gorgeous ‘Eskimo Kisses’ is a delightful song that really shows how talented these boys are. Carefully crafted and just under two minutes in length, the vocals are bittersweet enough to give the heartstrings a good yank, while ‘Where Are All The Satellites’ follows things up rather nicely, adding even more melody and drive to the track, which builds up into a fantastic chorus. Perhaps the best moment is saved for the glorious ‘Lost In The Moment’ featuring some fantastic backing vocals by Lori Best. It casually wanders through the track, arpeggioed riff and delightfully fragile vocals coming together wonderfully to create a mean and moody track that best sums up the band. When the vocals go all aggressive at the track’s conclusion, Lori’s vocals act as the perfect catharsis. It’s hauntingly beautiful and a must listen.
If the EP were to end here we would be looking at 5 stars. Unfortunately the previously mentioned ‘It’s safe to say that things clearly aren’t going too well when the idea of having your head between a rock and a hard place seems positively inviting – parts 1 and 2’ have to follow and these smack of a band being a little too pretentious too early in their careers. ‘Part 1’ features some whispery vocals on top of a dream-like sequence with hauntingly beautiful female warblings thrown in for good measure. A perfect outro, it just seems misplaced and throws the tempo and rythmn that the record had managed to build up. ‘Part 2’ is the complete opposite, beginning with violent screams and climatic guitars before mellowing out and with the now predictable haunting vocals. Better than ‘Part 1’, it unfortunately seems out of place with the other songs on offer and while it is still good, just doesn’t continue the flow of the rest of the EP. The track also breaks, ebbs and flows, going off in all directions and taking in sampled speech, spoken word and singing. It’s a brilliant piece of music, almost ‘prog-emo’ if there’s such a phrase, but within the confines of the rest of the record it just seems a little too much for me to digest. It’s also around 8 minutes in length, which is actually in keeping with the rest of the cd, a weighty 30-minutes.
It’s hard to believe that this was recorded in just three days by mixmaster extrordinaire Iain Wetherell. Having just been signed to a bigger UK label, The All New Adventures Of Us have a very bright future indeed. If the first four tracks are anything to go by, we have one of the brightest UK bands on our doorstep. Watch very, very closley, for this is a band of which big things are now expected.
Paul