The Fades Deliver Garage Rock Gold With Night Terrors As We Approach Halloween

Garage rock is alive in South London! On first listen I’m met by a genre mash up like no other, where post punk collides with guitar shredding to create a rush of energy that says ’sit up and listen’ - some may say never the twain shall meet but hey, what do they know? They’ve not listened to The Fades!

Tracks like the insanely catchy ‘You Follow Me Around’, with its Buzzcocks tinged guitar and latest single ‘Lost My Job’ with its NYC East village vibe are thrown together with ‘The Pessimist’ - a Sabbath’esque number that expands on the album’s title concept of ‘things that haunt us in the middle of the night’, to create an enjoyable listen. There’s a cameo appearance from Carter USM’s ‘Fruitbat’ on People In General, which adds an extra dimension - and then the 6min long title track with its Ebenezer Scrooge lyric, opens the album up to be more than just a bunch of 3 minute thrash punk tracks. Its slow climactic build towards a crescendo in a Pete Townsend stylee is easy to get swept up in, while psychotic vocalising on Known It All Along seems to continue the Night Terrors / paranoia theme to great effect.

The album then wanders off a bit in my opinion with another long track - the 9 minute TeleVision, although its dub effects do add interest and variation to the overall picture. But fear not as the closing track Wake Up Generation sits the garage rock vibe back on top again, bringing the album to a succinct end with its charming vocal.

For the growing number of people who like to hold their music in their hands, there’s a day-glo green vinyl version that’s set off nicely with a gatefold sleeve and highly stylised artwork. All in all, a solid release for fans of The Stooges, Buzzcocks & The Adverts with riffs a ‘plenty, but be prepared for a couple of long tracks amidst the mayhem.

COMMENTS