Asylums appear to mark themselves as a good fit among the current crop of chart indie bands on their debut album, ‘Killer Brain Waves’, but the Southend band also succeed in placing themselves outside of the mainstream with their blend of erratic energy, social commentary and strong DIY ethics.
They take the basic elements of a melodic indie rock sound and run it through a wall of noise at a furious speed, with Second Class Sex, the opener, contrasting its wailing, frantic guitars with a relatively clean pop vocal melody that ends abruptly in a punkish yelp.
Lyrically, they paint a picture of a country ravaged by austerity. On Joy In A Small Wage, singer Luke Branch sings “spend more than you got paid”, on Necessary Appliances he takes on consumerism: “Appliances were built to break.” Born To Not Belong, meanwhile, cements their outsider status: “It gets hard to breathe in the present tense.”
The band live by a DIY code and practise what they preach, choosing to release the album on their own label, Cool Thing, and also direct their own music videos. But their knack for a strong vocal melody means that, despite their individualistic stance, they don’t stray too far away from indie rock’s conventions.
That bears fruit on songs like Joy In A Small Wage, which has melodic vocal and guitar lines as well as a less dense sound that lets the instrumentation stand out: its pop exterior seduces you into listening to its strong message.
There are a couple of stumbling blocks, though. The band first appeared with the single The Death of Television about two years ago and, as such, plenty of the tracks on this album have already been released. Alongside that air of familiarity, the album also dips a little in intensity around its middle, with Monosyllabic Saliva and Born To Not Belong not as magnetising as the rest on offer here. Still, Asylums’ combination of pop melodies and politically conscious lyrics makes for an intriguing offering.
ASYLUMS Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Fri October 21 2016 - SOUTHEND Chinnerys
Sat October 22 2016 - MANCHESTER Eagle Inn
Sun October 23 2016 - OXFORD Cellar
Tue October 25 2016 - BRISTOL Exchange
Wed October 26 2016 - BRIGHTON Hope and Ruin
Thu October 27 2016 - LEICESTER Cookie
Fri October 28 2016 - BIRMINGHAM Rainbow
Sat October 29 2016 - ALDERSHOT West Centre
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