Apologies I Have None – Black Everything
Slowly but surely and with a lot of touring Apologies I Have None have become one of the more popular punk bands emerging from the UK in recent years. Their 2012 full length London is a masterpiece on itself. Expectations were high for this new ep even though one of the key members has left the band.
But wtf. Is this Apologies I Have None? The band with brilliant melancholic songs? ‘Raging Through The Thick And Heavy Darkness Of A Bloodlust’, the opener of this ep is nothing like I hoped it to be. The song sounds like Radiohead doing Boy Sets Fire and is a huge disappointment being the first new AIHN song since London.
Fortunately things do get better with ‘Two Bombs In A Box’ which sounds more like the band as we all know them. ‘Coffee, Alcohol, Codeine, Repeat’ has a great ending and the last song on the ep ‘The Clarity Of Morning’ has the bleak melancholic sound that’s become a trademark for Apologies I Have None.
Still Black Everything is disappointing. Where the band goes beyond their trademark sound they fail miserably (opening track) and the other three songs aren’t as good as the stuff previously released. Maybe it’s all just a bit too desolate and depressing this time around. The ep misses one uplifting, fists in the air, feel good song. The band was right naming this ep Black Everything, but it’s too black.
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The Radiohead reference made me check out the first but I lasted for about a minute and a half.
Better get used to this, because this new sound in that first song is probably the reason Dan left the band during the recording of this e.p. (and now the band is missing part of the vocal team that made London so magical).
It took some getting used to, but I actually think “Bloodlust” is the only worthwhile song on this e.p. I love the atmosphere and the lyrics, even though it has nothing to do with how AIHN sounded on London. Two Bombs In A Box is ok, the other two songs are forgettable at best.
I’m really eager to see how this new sound will develop. I only see it getting darker and darker.
By the way, the reason that this EP is called Black Everything is that everything about it was supposed to be black. The cover, the vinyl, the inner sleeve and and the screenprint on the none music side of the 12 inch. However, the screenprinter fucked up and printed the lyrics on the vinyl in white instead of black.
This hurts…
I was as sceptic as you are but I kept spinning it and I love it !! Its different, Its intense darker and bitter but I actually like it…