Album Review
What Now – Move Like A Sinner
I’ll admit to you before I review this band, this is my first time listening to them. The reason I tell you this is because there has been a lot of emphasis on this band being reborn. Having grown up in Ballito, a beach town in South Africa, What Now grew from DIY roots, releasing an EP on their own which sold out fairly quickly. This sparked a number of gigs and a full length record. Not wanting to be limited to success only in South Africa, What Now moved to the UK where the band hit a rocky patch. They disbanded for 2 years before coming back together to take a ‘refreshed’ look at what What Now had to offer. ‘Move Like A Sinner’ is the result and the fresh new look of What Now.
‘Move Like A Sinner’ is strange straight from the get go, for a band reborn it smacks you straight in the face with an 80’s vibe. With classic 80’s Rock guitars, drums and with subtle vocal effects that fit the same style, the only things really missing are the synths. That is until the title track kicks in. ‘Move Like A Sinner’ reminds me of 80’s movies, plain and simple, and I know they don’t sound particularly alike, but it has the same movie soundtrack image in my head as Aiden’s cover of ‘Cry little sister’ from The Lost Boys 2 soundtrack. This 80’s theme stays concurrent through the first half of the album, with a good mix of a Funky Country Rock and Pop to give it more substance.
The Ninth track of the thirteen is where the album takes a complete turnaround. From what was a brooding, slick and smooth album it becomes a mash up of Pop Rock styles. ‘Midnight Swimmers’ a clean Pop Rock love song, turns the album almost on its head and feels remarkably out of place. Followed by ‘Wasting Away’ a similarly slow song, layered with a number of instruments and electronic samples to give it a U2-esque grandiosity. ‘Should’ve Said So’ remembers the bands 80’s synth for only a moment before returning to a faster Pop Rock Ballad. They aren’t bad songs, but after 27 minutes of a different album it feels like two EP’s have been rushed and smashed together to create a full length.
As far as production goes this album is fantastically polished, musically it sounds crisp and precise – it is just the construction that feels wrong. As well as it feeling like two projects pushed into one, the song structure for a lot of the songs is frustrating similar. Each follows the same pattern of starting slow for a lengthy intro, before transitioning into a livelier chorus all in the same way. Individually the songs sound great; as one collective piece of art it struggles to hold your attention.
Venue: Move Like A Sinner
Support Band: Hey & Argh