Album Review: TeamABC - Water EP
TeamABC is a strange fellow (Stef Purenins) who records all his stuff himself, releases his work in small packages giving the choice between a paid physical release or a free download. The low-key DIY recording probably explains this decision, but the man puts effort into creating some quirky stories and shows a few glimpses of great songwriting. Opening song 'Service Station Feeling Of Doom!' is an energetic number somewhere in the vicinity of Johnny Foreigner's punkier multi-layered indie-rock and, through the messy mix, Team ABC manage to unleash a sweet nintendo-flavoured bite-size chorus ambushed by Elie How's vocal backing. The instrumentals and vocal layers means the song feels a tad congested and the listener won't necessarily warm up to it instantly. However, from the halfway point on, the track is blessed with some space to breathe and the tasty melody is allowed to work its magic, pushed along by some vocals that become more distinctive.
'The Future West' lacks what makes the opener good. The congestion is back and accompanied by dirty saturation from the crunchy guitar, and the melodies certainly don't work as well. The staccato guitar in the chorus is an idea, but I can't help but feel there might be a minuscule tuning problem that keeps it from making any impact. It's not a bad song in itself, but in this case, the DIY recording doesn't do it any favours.
At 4.44 minutes, 'Casually Keeping Control' is a bit too long considering the genre TeamABC bathes in. And in this case, even though the instrumentals are left more space, it also feels uninspired. However, the DIY mixing does give it a likeable quality in a Juno soundtrack kind of way that keeps it from being a poor song on a polished album. 'Tangled (Your Bones)' is a mystery to me. It doesn't range wide from what he does, but somehow it doesn't seem to have any of the qualities of the opening track, and feels empty.
And then out of nowhere, comes 'Another Fight, Another Defeat'. The acoustic guitars are a breath of fresh air, the melodies are urgent yet sweet and the vocal/lyrical work help raise this song high above the rest. As a whole, it represents a step up in songwriting, the instrumental work manages to create several layers of melody and the chorus thrives on some of the post-emo indie thematics Johnny Foreigner and Tellison make their career out of. This song is TeamABC proving there's more to just sounding like a guy playing with recording tools in a shed/room/cave. Immediately following it comes 'Stars Kept Captured In Jars' which continues on this sudden wind of goodness by allowing the music to breathe and letting the intricate melodies work their magic through the surface weirdness. Halfway through the song, the accelerator is pressed and the track is driven into emotional outlet territory.
They sing "pictures, music, words, sound. combining these things when no one's around" as the last song comes to an end. Water EP is one very imbalanced record, and one might've wished TeamABC had waited a little longer to iron out some of the lesser songs on here to create something special. What we're left with, is something good. What's next?
3/5
'Water EP' by TeamABC is available now through Bandcamp.
James Berclaz-Lewis
