'I Guess It's Time We Got Into This' by Concrete Fun House
Review
At last the debut album, 'I Guess It's Time We Got Into This' by Concrete Fun House is available for us all to fully enjoy.
Featuring nine original tunes, you have already had the opportunity to access copies of the singles "What Happened to the Caterpillars" and "Caught Wanking" plus "141 and 2/3% Chance" which they kindly permitted us to feature on ‘Hot Music Live Presents Volume Fifteen ‘.
The half dozen you'll therefore only know to date from hearing them live are: "Blood, Sweat and Volunteers", "Waxing Gibbous", "These Days", "Special Order 937", "Headlines: Everybody's Dead Dave" and "Erica 2: Electric Boogaloo".
I suppose the blindly obvious reflection is that once heard these song titles are so unique that you'll not forget them in a hurry and if you're using a search engine you're unlikely to be fobbed off with any other act using similar band or song names.
That said, however memorable or provocative these titles are, such is the wit & articulacy of the band that they are at best only (often oblique) starting points for grasping the lyrical meaning. (Credit to vocalist Tom and guitarist/keyboard player Joe for the words with music being a whole band creative endeavour).
The unforgettable "Waxing Gibbous" therefore seems to have little to say directly about lunar astronomy and is presumably a metaphoric signifier of a song which is possibly more concerned with issues of identity and behavioural boundaries: just as debut single "Caught Wanking" (please see my original review for greater detail) is I guess about a form of masturbation but more overtly about employment attitudes.
I was a bit intrigued by "These Days" as it's got the least baroque name & tentatively linked it to a Stewart Lee routine in my head. Which goes to show how dangerous speculation can be as a guide and how Concrete Fun House seem to prefer travelling tangentially rather than obviously. It's not about calling out racist attitudes: it's actually a moving and angst ridden voyage of self exploration which flirts with elements of self deprecation if not loathing.
In fact, though seeing the band live, the most obvious first impression (well I can only speak for myself here) is one of anger & outrage (Tom's onstage presence & demeanour I suppose shape this) but delving into the lyrics, quite apart from the diversion into the world of moths & various insects, the majority of songs tend to be aimed at skewering the behaviours of individuals: one could reasonably imagine that personal experiences inform many of these given the precision of the lyrical assaults.
That however is to fail to include a welter of detail which enriches what you hear through cultural references: I doubt I got all that there are. I did get the "Star Trek Deep Space Nine" one in "Blood, Sweat and Volunteers" and "Special Order 937" derives from "Alien" (though 937 is area code for Kettering, Ohio which might be a Deathsex Bloodbath connection) and Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn The Bataclan, South Park, Shefali (Oza), Jon Snow and Matt Frei (does Gordon Bennett count?) also cameo. I'm not prepared to make any guesses as to the identities of Dave nor Erica though.
Musically, the band, regardless of the specificity of the focus of a song (ones like "Headlines: Everybody's Dead Dave" offer a more broad target) tend to head at various speeds towards intensity: which again is their defining characteristic live & I would imagine a major part of their attraction to a fanbase which has grown quickly since their debut just under two years ago: it's worth noting too that they didn't stay long confined to the comfort of their home region: they've long since played London and gig in all sorts of places.
The rhythm section of Sarah (bass) and Sarah-Beth (drums: and also the sleeve design) is the smouldering foundation offering the tightest & most profound basis for the various snarls of vocals (all five contribute backing ones) and the guitars etc of Joe & Andrew. Some of the latter indeed are as oblique as the words. A protractor might help given the angles various elements head off in.
I'd not quibble if reviewers bandied the term "uncompromising" around after catching live performances, but 'I Guess It's Time We Got Into This' is in fact a good example of where, however impressed you might be by the live experience, you can dive deeper into a band's songs and derive much more from them: in fact I'd say in my own case, I have been overwhelmed by the impression that Concrete Fun House have given me in concert (thank you) but I understand their tracks much better now. Which is also fine & means I can show greater respect to pieces they clearly worked hard to perfect to their own satisfaction. (This is the moment to namecheck producer Jon (Moonbear) Webb and Mason Le Long who mastered the album for helping them to attain their vision).
Dynamically, the songs are far from monolithic however little the compromise element might be. Some passages are furious, some songs build inexorably to peaks of majestic power: "Erica 2: Electric Boogaloo" (which I am reasonably sure deals primarily with the proliferation of unreasonable malicious & manipulative content on social media platforms) for example teases you with a beginning which is close to indie pop. Then it draws you in (like online propaganda) and the sense of frustration mounts verbally & musically (though to be fair, the tone does tend to the "more in sorrow than anger" and to be honest, has left quite an affecting impression upon me).
Given the highly distinguished pedigrees of members (including, but not limited to Deathsex Bloodbath, Septic and the Tanks and Duck Thieves), I think most people would anticipate elements of humour or some theatricality. So I considered these on your behalf. Obviously if you look hard for things, you tend to find them or kid yourself that you do, but I think I can evidence ongoing characteristics. Firstly, they are definitely muted in relation to those other bands: although all have tackled serious subjects in their own idiosyncratic ways, Concrete Fun House are outwardly more sombre in their approach and wryness is incorporated deftly & subtly.
A higher proportion of this side of their art is musical: little quirky punctuation marks and moments of release. While the titles of songs have that strangeness, the lyrics (apart possibly from "What Happened to the Caterpillars" which as you know was originally a Year Without A Summer track) are definitely heavier: and one could say much the same for the more serious side of the stage act. In fact there is a good argument to be made that Sarah-Beth's various cover artworks provide the leavening the most.
There definitely is some humour in the lyrics, but much is of the dark variety or the "blink and you'll miss it" duration. This is not a bad thing: these five musicians bring their legacies to the Concrete Fun House table but concocting a pastiche involving their other bands, however inspiring they are, neither provides originality to this one nor shows enough respect to the others. Concrete Fun House is sui generis.
Concrete Fun House launch 'I Guess It's Time We Got Into This' later today at Coventry's Just Dropped In record shop in FarGo with the aid of What About Eric? whom you surely must be aware of and Christian Music who since they are from Stoke, you be not be.
Tickets from: https://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Coventry/Just-Dropped-In-Records-/Concrete-Fun-House---Album-Launch/41364361
