Playlouder - Music is the Network

It’s no wonder I left this CD gathering dust on my desk for so long; every time I think of adjectives to describe it I begin to sound like the worst PR person ever invented (which I actually was for a brief period in 2005, but that’s another story).

Having spent more time hanging around with the likes of The Fratellis and The Twang than I’d be comfortable admitting to, the band’s brief history further cements the stigma of UK indie to the blocks at their feet.

The problem is that Look See Proof, when heard through the ears of a computer, may well be indecipherable from many of the bands I currently hold at the top of my hate list. It’s very difficult, listening to this, to work out exactly why I like it so much. That never used to bother me in the 90s of course, when I’d happily lap up singles and albums by groups of boys with guitars and ask for nothing more than a decent tune or two.

Why should today be any different?

Perhaps because there’s something about the UK music scene today (something that’s been evolving for some time) that’s absolutely abhorrent; the lack of definition between the underground and the mainstream, the fast-track apprenticeship of Xfm and NME, the sickening sound of an absence of ideas.

So what’s different here? I could say that the echoing guitars and backing vocals on ‘High Horse’ recall both Interpol and Mystery Jets more than they do The Wombats, but would I be convincing anyone? If you listen through the accents there’s as much similarity to Taking Back Sunday or even Blink 182. Does that offend you, yeah? Well… it doesn’t offend me as such, but doesn’t inspire me particularly either.

Although atypical of the predominantly sing-song format, the beautifully-prosaic ‘Bishopsgate’ is a high-point, recalling The Teenagers' recent effortless assault at pop perfection. In fact, by two thirds through the album there’s been hardly a moment’s lapse in quality. The melodies are gorgeous: just the right side of catchy, just the right side of bouncy, and youthful, and uplifting, and numerous other inadvisable adjectives I set out to avoid at the start of this. Ho-hum. 

I don’t know. Perhaps a computer couldn’t separate these songs from Pigeon Detectives B-sides, but isn’t that what humans are for? (Not all they're for I hope, but you get the idea.) And I believe that therein lies the key to appreciating Look See Proof – a modicum of taste; these young chaps had their first couple of singles released on the quite lovely Tigertrap Records and the album here on Weekender. Both hallmarks of Good Indie™, which is often presumed extinct.

Perhaps it’s pretty samey, but the standard’s set high from the word go, and it manages not to outstay its welcome. This happy medium between bog standard indie and pop punk doesn’t make for the ingredients of a masterpiece of an album, but somehow Look See Proof’s debut ‘Between Here and There’ really hits the spot.