Two years ago, Leed’s punks Eagulls released one of the most
hard hitting and vicious debuts of our time. From their rotting brain video of
‘Nerve Endings’ to penning open letters attacking almost everybody in the music
industry, the band seemed to be one of Britain’s most promising musical
exports.
Their new album Ullages
(an anagram of Eagulls) kicks off with ‘Heads or Tails’. It’s slower and
dreamier than anything on their self-titled. It’s gloomy too, with lyrics like "It's hard to tell who we are this
time" and “let’s take a stab in
the dark” decorate the eerie opener with lost signals of discontent. Later on, ‘My Life in Rewind’ and ‘Harpstrings’ shine in a
way the band never have before. The former showcases their new direction better
than anything thus far, while the latter is a brilliant slowed down, warped instrumental
offering a moment of calm. ‘Velvet’ and ‘Psalms’ then continue the venture into
more psychedelic territory but offer less quality and lack any originality.
The albums midpoint ‘Blume’ is a clear highlight, its chorus
of “I want to see dead roses bloom” demonstrates their skill of combining pop
sensibilities with brutalist sonic punk. It’s got all the charming desperation
of early Joy Division, but the
silence replaced with shoegazey noise. Unfortunately, by ‘Skipping’, boredom takes hold. The lyrics
“I’m a victim of monotony” begin to ring true. There’s nothing particularly
wrong with the track, but it, and many tracks preceding it, just feel so
uninspiring. The following ‘Lemontrees’ doesn’t help either. It’s remedied only
by closer ‘White Lie Lullabies’, a soft, reverby ballad reminiscent of The Cure. Sadly, it’s too little too late.
Ironically, an ullage is defined as ‘the amount a container
falls short of being full’, a self-critical and self-fulfilled prophecy. While impressive
sonically, it lacks that urgency we first fell in love with on Eagulls and is consequently much less memorable
or exciting. Letting go of their anger might have given them freedom to
experiment and grow, but there’s so much room for growth emotionally, or to
step away from the increasingly clear influences and reach the potential there’s
just glimmers of on this album. Despite this, those few stand out moments offer
an optimism that Ullages is just a
stepping stone on a path to somewhere bolder and more exciting.
6/10
Best tracks – Blume, Harpstrings, White Lie Lullabies
