By Eleni P. Austin
The “Sophomore Slump” is a true musical malady. It strikes some and misses others. Artists who achieve critical acclaim or commercial success (or both) with their debut, turn around and release a second album so far off the mark, that their original accomplishment feels like a fluke. Most musicians have their whole life to create their first album, maybe 18 months to come up with a second one.
Musicians who have succumbed to the sophomore slump include the Go-Go’s, Living Colour, Terence Trent D’Arby, Weezer, Tracy Chapman and the Strokes. Wonderful debuts were followed by mediocrity. Some artists, like Elvis Costello, A Tribe Called Quest, Led Zeppelin, The Cars and Adele, met or, in some cases, exceeded expectations. The Strypes fall into that latter category.
Originally, childhood mates Josh McClorey (lead guitar, vocals), Pete O’Hanlon (bass) and Evan Walsh (drums), bonded over their parents’ extensive record collections. Barely in their teens, the lads from Cavan, Ireland formed a band in 2008.
Rather than look to contemporary music for inspiration, they were heavily influenced by Rock pioneers like Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, Blues giants like Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon, British Invasion-era forefathers like the Yardbirds and (Brian Jones-led) Rolling Stones. Along the way, they immersed themselves in the Pub Rock stylings of Dr. Feelgood and Brinsley Schwartz and the pure Punk of the Clash and The Jam.
With the addition of school mates Conor Bates and Jack Hayden, the Strypes made their live debut at a Christmas concert held at their primary school. Bates and Hayden each quit the band by 2012 and the boys recruited 15 year old Ross Farrelly to handle lead vocals and harmonica duties.
Despite their tender ages, the band began gigging around town, which proved a great way to hone their chops. Initially, they concentrated on covering their musical idols. They released home recordings on I-tunes. The four song EP, consisting of songs by Billy Boy Arnold, Slim Harpo, Bo Diddley and Eddie Holland was cheekily entitled Young, Gifted And Blue.
The EP shot to the top of I-tunes Blues chart, remaining at #1 for six weeks. An intense bidding war broke out between labels eager to sign these teen sensations. The band signed with Mercury in the U.K. and Virgin/EMI in the U.S.
By now, their youthful prowess had also attracted the attention of heavy hitters like Elton John, (who signed them to his Rocket Music management group), as well as Dave Grohl, Paul Weller, Roger Daltrey and Jeff Beck.
As the guys began to write their own songs, the music of Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe provided the perfect tutorials. With veteran producer Chris Thomas, (Sex Pistols, Pretenders) behind the boards, they recorded their first full-length debut. Snapshot arrived in the U.K. in late 2013, and was released in the States in early 2014.
Snapshot was nearly perfect. The Strypes offered a sharp distillation of their myriad influences, giving them a 21st century spin. A few well-chosen covers by Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and Nick Lowe rounded out the album.
Less than two years after Snapshot was released, the Cavan lads are back with their second long-player, Little Victories. The record opens with the triple-pronged attack of “Get Into It,” “I Need To Be Your Only” and “A Good Night’s Sleep And Cab Fare Home.”
“Get Into It” wraps grinding guitars around a tick-tock rhythm. The lyrics weigh the pros and cons of anonymous cyber-sex; physical gratification, sans emotional connection. The dilemma is best summed up by this trenchant couplet, “Love is easy on the wrist, but hard on the chest.” Searing harmonica fills accent the instrumental break which slows to a crawl as McClorey unleashes a Glam-tastic solo.
Marauding bass lines connect with streamlined guitars and conga-riffic percussion on “I Need To Be…” The lyrics wax rhapsodic over the perfect girl who has everything; “She’s the bag, she’s the leaf, she’s the sugar, the full cup baby.” The momentum accelerates as layered guitars careen and crash. Just as quickly everything downshifts and then revs up, and slows down again before grinding to a halt.
“A Good Night’s Sleep…” sets the scene for a prickly seduction. Farrelly’s no-nonsense mien is echoed by a pummeling back-beat, swaying guitars that dart and pinball through the melody, and lush organ colors. “I’m well past good and ready, but I’m too well on to keep it steady/And I think we should get hot and heavy, Baby don’t you agree?”
As much as their debut fixated on a combo-platter of Blues, British Invasion, Pub Rock and Punk, the new album expands the Strypes musical horizons exponentially. The first single, “Eighty-Four” opens with a walloping overture that wouldn’t seem out of place in a “James Bond” action sequence. Prowling bass lines, skittering guitars that pinwheel and flutter, plus a pile-driving back beat, almost overwhelm this tale of instant attraction. He puts the moves on a woman who gives him “Aha Shake Heartbreak, 4 to the floor.” (Nice Kings Of Leon homage).
Meanwhile, “Queen Of The Half Crown” is a gritty blast of ‘70s Glam that echoes New York Dolls and Mott The Hoople. Initially, the guitars are stripped down and tensile, halfway through the tempo shifts to an arch martial cadence and McClorey rips a series of slash and burn solos that would make an old cock-rocker blush.
The record hits the half-way mark on “Three Streets And A Village Green,” a stark meditation on instant success. Here, the band blends strafing guitar riffs, slinking bass lines and a sand-blasted, hop-scotch rhythm that feels like an unholy alliance between The Sweet and Black Sabbath.
The melody and instrumentation navigate a series of dizzying aural switchbacks that would have a lesser band reaching for the GPS. It’s a tour-de-force, and it isn’t even the best song here.
That distinction belongs to three tracks, “Now She’s Gone,” “Cruel Brunette” and “Status Update.” They offer a triptych of perfection. “Now…” is piloted by monster wah-wah riff-age, thrumming bass lines and a rattlesnake shake back-beat. Seemingly, the lyrics offer a bitter kiss-off to an ex-flame; “She used to be my queen, my always and everything/But I cut all my ties clean, Henry the 8th.”
But scratch beneath the surface and this guy is licking his wounds and reevaluating his options. A mournful bottle-neck solo underscores the heartbreak, “I’ll tell everybody that I’m the shadow of the shadow that I used to be/And I can’t love her so she won’t love me and she’s gone.” Angst has never been so danceable.
“Cruel Brunette” begins tentatively, with an off-kilter rhythm and squally feedback guitar, the lyrics sketch out a seduction scenario that begins promisingly. As the tempo increases, the melody splits the difference between Ska and Punk. Here, Farrelly navigates the rocky shoals of gender politics. “Why do women act like they’re doing men a favour, it’s not like they can live without relationships either.” This sharp mash-up of styles echo Billy Bragg, English Beat and Squeeze.
Finally, “Status Update” is simply thrilling. Scuzzy Fuzz guitar licks slither through growling bass lines and the lads’ beloved Bo Diddley beat. Bluesy harmonica notes punctuate each verse. Farrelly effortlessly slips into the skin of an unrepentant swain who is just “a snake in a world full of rats.” Meanwhile, McClorey unspools a series of yowling, yet succinct solos that would make Brian Jones proud.
Other interesting tracks include “(I Wanna Be Your) Everyday” and “Best Man.” The former marks the only time the action slows for a kinda sorta ballad accented by flange-y guitar riffs and plangent keys. The latter finds the boys experiencing a hint of self-doubt. But the whipsaw guitar riffs, spitfire vocals and crackling percussion contradict their crisis of confidence.
The album closes with “Scumbag City” a soaring and affectionate swipe at their hometown. The chiming guitars and defiant vocals suggest a newfound affinity for homegrown heroes like Stiff Little Fingers and Thin Lizzy.
The deluxe version of Little Victories adds four bonus tracks, “Fill The Spaces In,” “Lovers Leave,” “Rejection” and “G.O.V.” Pony up the extra dough, as none of these songs constitute filler. “Fill…” offers a riotous rollercoaster ride that camouflages some angry working-man blues. Speedy guitar licks collide with a stop-start rhythm and pounding piano fills. It’s a lesson in controlled chaos, ala’ mid-period Who or Kinks
Elvis Costello’s menacing Punk/Reggae classic, “Watching The Detectives,” provides the melodic blueprint for “Lovers Leave.” As always, these Cavan wunderkinds up the ante, adding hints of Power Pop, a sidewinding guitar solo and urgent harmonica notes. “Rejection” is a jittery slice of Punk Rock bluster, and “G.O.V.” is a souped-up Skank-tacular finish to an astonishing album.
The best way to describe Little Victories is an embarrassment of riches. The melodies, instrumentation and arrangements are sharp and ambitious. The lyrics tackle typical teenage themes with an articulate language that is potent, yet economical. These boys exhibit an eloquence that belies their youth.
The 16 songs on the Strypes second effort are much more than a collection of “little victories.” This album represents an exciting and triumphant leap forward. That is evident from the second the needle hits the groove.
