Album Review

My First Tooth – Love Makes Monsters

• 19th Feb 2013

My First Tooth have been traversing the indie venues of the country with their folk-pop sound since 2007. My First Tooth are revered for producing what is often described as ‘contemporary folk’, but what most people would call ‘poppy…folky…indie…singing…niceness’. Indeed, this description fits. Their latest offering, ‘Love Makes Monsters’ will certainly place them firmly back on the acoustic stage at Glastonbury, but is in danger of being underlined with red pen in the same way that your English teacher would berate the use of ‘nice’ as an adjective in creative writing.

The opening track on the record, ‘Claw To Club’, sets off with a promising smatter of indie guitars, soon interspersed with romantic sounding violin and vocals. Brass adds a jolly feeling of hopefulness, guitars and strong drums maintaining a foot tapping sense of setting out at the start of a journey that Bilbo Baggins would be proud of. Single ‘Past Broadcasting’ flows perfectly next, giving a feeling of nostalgic warmth. Once we get past the novelty of imagining the sun on the face of a much younger version of ourselves however, the track begins to drag and we wonder…is this all that My First Tooth have to offer? The next track, ‘Hawk in Harness’, gives us reason to hope, however. A hoedown of melancholy, the track juxtaposes an uptempo rhythm with potent lyrics detailing the death of a relationship like ‘we used to be best friends, now we’re like a snake with no teeth’. This contrast can be seen throughout the record in tracks like Intro to The Wild part 1 and part 2, and small crimes, which highlight Witt’s Bright Eyes-like vocal and lyrical style. Intro to The Wild part 1 is like a romantic sea shanty, swaying into Intro to The Wild part 2 which has a darker feeling of drunken dizziness.

My First Tooth use layers and alternating rich crescendo’s with smooth melodic harmonies to create a feeling of memory, of swaying nostalgia which permeates the record, giving a sense that the listener is privy to the ups and downs of a tumultuous relationship. ‘Heartbeat Retreat’ has a hometown feeling that sounds like the end of a hazy, happy summer. The track, which features lines like ‘eggshells for bones wrapped warm in wrinkled hands’ is a real highlight of the record. The strengths here rest on good songwriting, lovely vocal tones, emotional rising and falling melodies and an undeniable signature sound. However, over use of the same devises at times leave the listener feeling unable to distinguish between one song to the next, particularly where the instrumental ensemble elements of the tracks seem to crush their sentiment.

The story written by My First Tooth would certainly get points for it’s emotion, depth and honesty when it comes to love and relationships. Despite what your creative writing teacher told you, a dream ending isn’t always a bad thing. ‘Love Makes Monsters’ final chapter ‘Some Gurls’, a 12 minute epic, concludes the record by trailing off into a dreamlike state, as though committing an old love to memory. This haunting last dance seems a grown up way to end this altogether very sweet sounding record. Despite the rise in popularity of pop folk recently (refer to the band that sounds like ‘umford and ons’), and some of the lovely complexities of this record, ‘Love Makes Monsters’ may find it’s ‘cutesy’ sound stands in the way of My First Tooth’s potential. That said, this hard working band absolutely get an A for effort.

Venue: Love Makes Monsters
Support Band: Alcopop