SMOKERS DIE YOUNGER – X wants the meat (Thee SPC/Detail CD)
Posted: April 20th, 2006, by Simon MinterSmokers Die Younger appear at first to exist in that currently-popular musical sphere of wry social commentary set to varying eighties-tinged degrees of new-wavey pop. But across this album there are a number of things that, for me, set them way apart from (and in front of) many contemporaries. To explain a specific few of these things: the Breeders-like wailing vocal interludes on ‘I Spy Dry Fear’; the sudden bursts into incredible, lush, horn-tinged musicality on ‘It’s coming straight for us!’; the beautifully sad, beautifully simple jaunt into country blues territory on ‘Three cigarettes in an ashtray’ and the final track’s development from meaningless vocal repetition into bizarre, pounding lo-fi techno. Aspects like these, when combined with the approachable, off-kilter, Pavement-go-angry-indie-pop sound at the core of Smokers Die Younger, result in a richly varied album that hints at true musicianship that is yet to be reigned in by industry pressure, self-consciousness or a reluctance to give things a go in the hope that they work. And they work!
Thee SPC
Detail Recordings
Smokers Die Younger
Simon Minter
Simon joined diskant after falling on his head from a great height. A diskant legend in his own lifetime Simon has risen up the ranks through a mixture of foolhardiness and wit. When not breaking musical barriers with top pop combo Sunnyvale Noise Sub-element or releasing records in preposterously exciting packaging he relaxes by looking like Steve Albini.
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