When Tribes released their début album, Baby, it was released the same day as Howler’s début America Give Up. Without really meaning to, I pitted both albums in direct competition with one another for play-time on my stereo and Tribes came off losing. I was hoping that no such thing would happen for Wish To Scream so I could give it my undivided attention—but unfortunately, this is an album that would’ve been better having part of my attention.
The album opens with arguably the best track on it, ‘Dancehall’. Straight from the opening bluesy piano and acoustic guitar, it is easy to see that Tribes have completely changed their sound. In terms of ‘Dancehall’ that’s not actually a bad thing, as the American influences bleed through to make a slightly melancholic backdrop to Johnny Lloyd’s narrative. Sounding a lot like it belongs in a jukebox in a bar in the middle of nowhere in America, it’s actually refreshing and different.
Unfortunately though the novelty of this American inspired soundscape quickly wears off because Tribes play it like it’s been played thousands of times before. It probably doesn’t help that after the pace of the previous track you’re immediately dropped into ‘Corner of an English Field’ mark II: ‘Englishman on Sunset Boulevard’ in which the tempo is set to a slow sway at maximum. The only difference between the two tracks is that ‘Englishman on Sunset Boulevard‘ has had all the production nip-and-tuck done and this takes away any hint of real personality that the track could have. And don’t even get me started on the gospel choir they’ve thrown in there…
‘How The Other Half Live’ is more towards what I had initially expected from this album. Bringing back the English rockier elements, it’s far more interesting than the rest of the tracks on the album. It also helps that the guitars step back to the forefront and their dominance alongside Lloyd’s vocals works to bring the social commentary of the song to life. Although even here there seems to be someone behind the scenes adding extra production flairs such as trumpets and someone highly enthusiastic from a congregation which just are irksome and out-of-place.
The second half of the album becomes very indistinct upon listening because it’s just all the same. More American influences dominating proceedings and although it’s not bad—it’s not terribly interesting either. There’s also a huge emphasis on this tidied and sharpened production which seems to deliberately be overdone so Tribes can distance themselves from their original ‘grungy’ label and that would be great… if it wasn’t just so horribly bland.
Album closer ‘Wrapped Up In A Carpet’ ends the album on a high note, being one of the better tracks. Although still heavily leaning on the American influences (scarily reminiscent of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ballad-ier moments) its’ stripped back acoustic nature means that a lot of the production has been taken away making it feel rawer and far more genuine.
If I had to describe this album in one word it would be beige. You’re likely to listen to it and find it perfectly agreeable, perhaps even pleasant. But just like that default go-to colour, it’s not terribly interesting after a while and it’s certainly not going to excite you. With everything else out there—should you really settle for beige?
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