ALBUM REVIEW: We All Want To

WE ALL WANT TO — Come Up Invisible
(Plus One)

Brisbane indie-punk veteran ameliorates into a mature alt-rock outfit. PETE WALSH deliberates.

We All Want To’s sophomore album builds on the stylistic pastiche that the Brisbanites patented on their 2010 self-titled release, with the alt-rockers now set to blaze trails across the country with a swathe of gigs planned to run into November.

Frontman Tim Steward — of Screamfeeder fame — heavily dilutes his ‘90s punk rock tendencies on this release, only choosing to preserve an unashamed love of drivelling lyrics into the mic. Luckily, his musically-philandering ways have led the band to produce a well-layered album promoting an anomalous, downbeat alt-rock sound in a very ‘indie’ world. Singer/flautist Skye Staniford’s tendency to harmonise with Steward’s drawl adds a delightful textural quality, immediately recalling a Frenté-tinged sense of nostalgia.

The latter half of Ramp Up The Bleeding attempts to coalesce out-of-tune pipe sections with repetitive keyboard hooks and trashy guitar-slinging — only ending up sounding like post-grunge revival that genuinely sets the tone for the next 30 minutes. A relatively restrained backbeat supports the conservative-yet-errant guitar sections on tracks like We’re Not Perfect and Where Sleeping Ends. That said, slower tracks like Shine accentuate the album’s greatest qualities.

From a distance, the LP is a little dry but as you get closer, it’s the miniscule moments of brilliance that give it a simple, Something For Kate-type addictiveness. This record strays far from the concept album idea, each song being a work of art in itself.

PETE WALSH is an ex-Rave contributor and vagrant writer as well as a bit of a literati, music aficionado and coffee snob.