Apologies, I Have None

Black Everything EP

Written by: TL on 28/06/2014 20:43:13

When Apologies, I Have None - perhaps the biggest Grade fans in London - lost a founding member in guitarist/singer Dan Bond earlier this year, I quietly feared that it would spell the snuffing out of the hopes of another otherwise bright young band. Yet despite the clear sense of gloom surrounding the band's new "Black Everything EP", the band's big stage show at Groezrock's Impericon in May left me with the feeling that they were actually moving on with ambition after having recruited a touring standin at guitar. It seems losing a singer means a lot less when all four members contribute emotive punk rock vocals - Red City Radio style - in the first place.

In case you haven't read me drawing the comparison before, Apologies, I Have None are essentially London's The Menzingers, playing a dynamic, anthemic punk-rock full of sentimental crooning, yet in a seeming fit to Britain's grayer surroundings compared to The Menzingers' nostalgia-tinged Americana, Apologies have consistently been moodier and mope-ier, though only slightly less captivating for it and. Aptly titled "Black Everything" continues further out this tangent, especially if you go mainly by the impression left by the heavy, depressing echo of "Raging Through The Thick And Heavy Darkness Of A Bloodlust", which opens the EP with post-punk levels of reverb and five minutes of roaring angrily at the sky.

Fortunately, the more rollicking and melodic follow-up in "Two Bombs In A Box" is not shy a ray of seemingly nostalgic brightness, and while emo fans will appreciate the lullaby-ish guitar-noodling and Jimmy Eat World-like bass work and waltz tempo, Top Gun appreciators will join my glee at the (incidental?) reference to Righteous Brothers' "Lost That Loving Feeling". The higher tempo and renewed entropy of "Coffee, Alcohol, Codeine, Repeat" resummons the bleakness however, as it moves towards its bridge which entices a shoutalong with the raising repetition of "From this point on, don't give a fuck about anything, don't give a fuck about anyone".

"The Clarity Of The Morning" supposedly means to end the EP with some sort of distanced self-depreciation, but leaves less of a mark outside of making me want to sing "To a destination faaaar from here", only to realise that those lyrics belong in the closer to the former album "London". It is symptomatic of "Black Everything" serving as a darker sibling to the comparatively brighter urgency of "London" - one soaked in enough depressing thoughts for it to feel counter-intuitive when remarking that its release is in fact encouraging, at least in the sense that its a welcome sign of life from the band. That said, the journey through the darkness feels too brief (naturally, considering the format) and less wholesome than the often exhilarating "London". So while it's good to hear that Apologies are keeping at it, I can't help but to wish that their debut album had given them enough momentum to send them directly towards a more ambitious and improved second full-length. Who knows though, perhaps that's still in store?

7

Download: Two Bombs In A Box; Coffee, Alcohol, Codeine, Repeat;
For The Fans Of: The Menzingers; Captain, We're Sinking, The Smith Street Band, Against Me!
Listen: facebook.com/apologiesihavenone

Release date 12.05.2014
Beach Community / Uncle M

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