Middle Class Fashion LP review Girl Talk
Nestled in St. Lous in Missouri in the US of A…. no I am not going all poetic. Middle Class Fashion a trio comprising of Jenn, Brad and Brian have a new LP Girl Talk released on 14th January 2012.
A 14 track release, Girl Talk opens with Lightning Bugs – Immediately we find this is an album with a story to tell, as the slow opener sets the scene to the album. Piano accompanies the harmonised vocal. Don’t get that wrong, one of my favourite LPs of all time is by Sham 69 ‘That’s Life‘ their debut album followed a ‘day in the life’, makes for a sublime album when done in the right way and already with Middle Class Fashion I am in the space.
Powder Blue finds the tempo steps up a pace and I can hear the war-paint going on – This looks like a fiery day as the acerbic lyric slices like hydrochloric acid in contempt.
My Attack opens with similar keys, a little more jolly than may be expected, but a point well made. The concept of Middle Class Fashion is one of that self-effacing diatribe. Who said Americans don’t understand irony?
The guitars are let loose on Fun Whoa as the day breaks to a less introspective space.
Jamie finds a new dual vocal plaintiff to an even more classic construct as guitar and drum come to the fore. The use of the second male vocal adds a layer of depth and the band come together far more instrumentally, this is a decent story, stick with it.
The title track – Girl Talk – has some wonderful construction as Middle Class Fashion head out of the woods to let their hair run free, we find some natural space in which the band resonate.
Abomination picks up the theatrical constructs from earlier in the album. I have a sense we have classically trained musicians and a visual band here, as the storyline develops towards the half-time curtain.
Vacation opens the second-act with the tempo raised and the listener looks forward to the story unfolding.
July 31st – and the band take us to another stage setting with a reminiscence as the depth song-writing skills are permitted to come to the fore. The construction here is sublime.
Piano, percussion and vocal sit with equal power on Griffin as the band head towards the final section of the album, the real strengths come bouncing out of the speakers, I did say sit with this.
Will Barbarella live up to the expectations now raised? Once again the band play in harmony and the whole construction is making sense. I am happy to wait for the abilities of the band to be given space to develop, but will the short term concentration, now so prevalent allow this indulgence, of that I am not so sure, but it is that short span which misses out on so much.
Sugar Heart Candy, does exactly as you would expect on the tin. Popping corn in the saucepan comes lightly floating out in to the room. I wish Middle Class Fashion had arrived here earlier, the album is on a roll, but we only have two more tracks to go.
The penultimate track is another delightful tune, Sweet is the pinnacle of a superb release, which in my perspective took too long to showcase the superb abilities of the band.
Girl Talk finishes with Birthday, which resonates with piano, bass and vocal. A lyric sheers away façades as the music develops an ever present cloud.
Middle Class Fashion consists of highly competent musicians who in brief pieces of music are able to convey immensely powerful emotions. The construct of Girl Talk is of an immensely powerful piece, I just feel they have left the best ’til too late. The final few tracks of the album are a soaring success, but how many listeners will get there I wonder.
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Check out what others are saying about this post...[...] was January 2012 that I reviewed a 14 track LP – Girl Talk by Middle Class Fashion and they return with another 14 track LP Jungle – set for release on the 2nd August [...]