TL;DR:
This record stands toe to toe with some of the greatest records of all time; it’s a modern classic.
10/10
Going back about six months to February, post-punk breakout sensation Black Country, New Road had just released their sophomore project Ants From Up There. BCNR was, at the time of recording this record, a seven-piece band. Unfortunately, less than a week before the release, the lead singer, songwriter, and vocalist decided he could no longer continue with the band. They canceled their upcoming tour, and it was a sad day for fans like myself (I had tickets). BCNR takes equal inspiration from older hardcore indie punk acts like Slint and more contemporary, melodic indie outfits like Arcade Fire, though their sound is wholly unique.
Ants From Up There is a double record, clocking in at just under an hour. However, the variety of instruments, as well as Isaac Wood’s low, sometimes spoken word vocals and gorgeous, personal, and haunting lyricism make this record feel anything but too long.
The intro track, in a 5/4 time signature, successfully launches the listener into the first track on the record “Chaos Space Marine.” The first full track on the record combines some classic post-punk guitar passages and slow build-ups with jazz-inspired fills and saxophone. The track explodes into one of my favorite choruses on the record before leveling out and eventually transitioning into half-time for the outro and refrain.
Then, moving in a less theatrical direction, we have “Concorde.” This is where the genius of Wood’s lyricism really starts to show its face. The song opens with the lines: “Concorde this organ/The new one I’m forming/It’s grown so persistent on you/By the morning I’d fell to my feet/And the doctor said we are unfortunately running out of options to treat.” The whole song then builds up and up into a hazy mix of droning guitars and intense vocals, including a 4/4 bassline which makes the song polyrhythmic for a section. If you only listen to one song on this record, listen to this one.
“Good Will Hunting” is the most riff-driven and pointed song on the record. The song follows our petulant narrator and his obsession with this girl he barely knows. He imagines a life with this girl where they “summer in France” with their “genius daughters.” The chorus is a refrain about how cool this story will be to tell when they are older and they have accomplished these dreams that he has. Coming after a long, somber ballad like the previous “Bread Song,” “Good Will Hunting” is a breath of fresh air.
“Haldern” is a re-recording of a track that was entirely improvised live at the Haldern Pop Festival, and the following “Mark’s Theme” is a gorgeous instrumental homage to the saxophonist Lewis Evan’s late uncle who passed away during the making of this record.
The second half of the record is made up entirely of the last three songs. “The Place Where He Inserted The Blade” is a seven minute long track which exemplifies all the reasons why BCNR is one of the best in the scene right now. With May Kershaw’s stunning piano melody underlying the song, the whole thing feels like a depressed fever dream. The beautiful vocal juxtaposition in the second half of the song pits Isaac Wood’s strained, raspy and genuine singing against the rest of the band’s group vocal refrain (“Ba-ba-da…”), until Isaac too joins the group to lead out the song. After the heart wrenching final two lines: “Show me the fifth or the cadence you want me to play/Show me where to tie the other end of this chain,” his recession back to the group refrain always fills my heart with melancholy. Another genuine masterpiece of a song; I’ll be singing “good morning!!” along with BCNR until I die.
The closing track “Basketball Shoes” is an almost thirteen minute long slow-burn that I consider the band’s magnum opus—written about Wood’s obsession with a girl that came to him in a dream. The song is about the moment when he wakes up to realize that the most beautiful thing he had ever felt would not and could not ever be realized. Split up into three distinct sections, the last three minutes of this song are some of the most heart-wrenching moments in any art I have witnessed. Isaac repeatedly sings “In my bed sheets, now wet/Of charlie I pray to forget/In dreams my face is still in your chest/Oh, your generous loan to me, your crippling interest.” One listen-through of this song will explain very well why Wood left the band.
There is no wasted space on this record; every moment has a distinct purpose and a distinct motion. It truly stands toe to toe with many of the greatest records I have ever heard. If I lived a hundred times over, I wouldn’t want to live without hearing this record. In a world where messy corporate pop songs rule the charts, this record is proof that there is still amazing music gaining recognition. It’s an instant, modern classic.
If you liked this record, I would recommend you check out these:
* BCNR’s “brother” band Black Midi, and their new record Hellfire.
* Classic indie rock outfit Arcade Fire, and their masterpiece Funeral, which largely inspired this record.