It would be foolish to sugarcoat it – Alpha Male Tea Party are a damned good band. The band are formed of a trio of Scousers who already sound well-versed in the art of thrashing themselves around a stage or studio and leaving a trail of debris and satisfied fans in their wake. Having self-released their debut album last year, the band will follow it up with a fast-approaching EP release which is likely to do anything but hinder their momentum.
Last year’s album AMTP was a thumping introduction to the Tea Party’s world of instrumentally focused post-rock where lungs are simply backing for the musical assault. Opening with a jolting kick to the spine in the shape of ‘Baker’s Dozen’, the band that – perhaps not 100% seriously – describe themselves as an “aggressive sexual calypso” show off their ability to cut right to the chase and deliver a belter. Personally I’ve never indulged in any aggressive sexual calypso, but if they’re anything like what Alpha Male Tea Party bring to the coffee table, I may have to start. Naturally, the album seems to go from strength to strength in the early stages, with ‘It’s All About the Throat’ opening in raucous style and continuing throughout in a similar fashion. There’s an occasional vocal flourish laced into the barrage of drums and guitar, and the distinguishable tones of a theremin briefly sneak into the track as well. You get the distinct impression when listening to this – and following track ‘Mutha Hubbard, Wha’ Choo Doin’ In Ma Cupboard?!’ – that the band sought to throw everything they could at a wall, and run with whatever stuck, but quickly got bored and just settled with knocking the wall down instead. The crescendos of each track come and go in pulses; verses of incendiary energy intertwined with moments to step back and survey the damage. ‘Griff Rees Homes’ employs this approach across a punchy six and a half minutes, while the band’s current flagship single ‘Depressingly Shit Lunchtime Sandwich’ (securing a late scoop of 2012’s Song Title of the Year award) is five minutes of frenzied math rock, with the biggest vocal presence of any track on the album so far.
Following this is ‘We Should Be Animals’, a track split into two parts with part two acting almost as an interlude. Far different from any full track on the record, ‘We Should Be Animals II’ is a brief respite of clean guitar before ‘Jason Fucked the Argonauts’ creeps into life. The track is yet another powder keg from the Liverpool three-piece, though more of a slow burner than other tracks that AMTP has to offer. ‘My Ship is Shipshaped’, meanwhile, is anything but a slow burn, accumulating an almost ravaging collection of hooks and riffs from the start. The piece provides what is perhaps the most entertaining seven minutes on the album, and its constant changes in direction and sound ensure that as the record rolls into its outro track, it does so with a bang rather than a whimper.
There is no “whimper” to Alpha Male Tea Party, really. The band are simply intent on throwing everything they have into producing quality music, and for a newly born group, the success rate is staggering. ‘Dead Outside’ offers one last build to a grand finale, and it wraps up a superb debut effort from the trio. To offer some simple advice, love this band. Love this album. Put it on when you’re alone. Dance to it, and form a one-man mosh pit in your front room. Frighten your neighbour as he walks his dog past your window. Continue anyway. If the band continue as they’ve started, then we could see Alpha Male Tea Party become a massive emerging name in years to come. And, of course, cement their status as best tea party ever. Sorry, Boston.
http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=2413102504/size=grande3/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/
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