Album Review: In the Audience - What Lives

It is impressive enough when a group of young musicians put out a great album, but it is even more impressive when they put it out on their own record label. Self proclaimed “Indie pop collective” In The Audience have done just that. Hailing from Portland and Toronto, their debut album ‘What Lives’ was released earlier this month on New Friends – a label co-founded by band members Jordan Stowell (vocals) and Sonia Sturino (keyboards) in 2009 when they were just nineteen. Well, I say band members. The only two consistent members of In The Audience are Jordan Stowell and Cam Jones (drums), with other musicians weaving in and out of the line-up as and when.

Artists such as Anathallo and Land of Talk are listed among their influences, but their sound is more akin to Tigers Jaw, with vocals often evocative of Mark Kozelek (Red House Painters/ Sun Kill Moon). In the Audience share the energetic, blue-collar aesthetic of The Ataris or Gaslight Anthem, and the cover of ‘What Lives’–a black and white snapshot of a typical suburban American neighbourhood – could not be more befitting for songs that are wrapped up with relationships, identity, growing up, and growing old. Despite everyone involved with this band being born in the 1990’s, their songs come across as mature and well crafted.

‘What Lives’, it seems, is split into two parts. Opening track ‘American Names’ introduces us to the first half of the album which tends towards steadily paced indie rock with accessible poppy melodies. The choruses have all the anthemic sing-along qualities of Frank Turner, and there is a surprising amount of variety in the material. ‘For Courtney’ even has a lil’ bit of a country vibe lurking in there as Stowell sings “you know it’s true, my heart belongs to you”. ‘Shine’, a gently swaying acoustic track, not only provides an unplugged recess, but also acts as a kind of fork in the road. Instead of returning to crisp, polished guitars and valiant vocals, ‘What Lives’ takes a diversion towards emo circa 2001 with tracks like ‘Mr. Manager’ which wouldn’t seem out of place on Thursday’s ‘Full Collapse’. The indie rock becomes filtered through distortion, and the poppy melodies are approached with more patience.

‘Fun Jungle Playground’ is one of the more refreshing tracks on the album as the band begins to experiment with more dynamic song structures as opposed to the linear arrangements of the first four tracks. Although ‘Fun Jungle Playground’ has a particularly powerful chorus, the content that surrounds and supports it is more impressive – crunchy guitar chords sandwiching chaotic percussive outbursts, a breakdown complete with some delicate “ooh-ooh’s”, and some lengthy jams which run in the veins of Penfold and Built To Spill. ‘Walter Gretzky Street Hockey Tournament’ actually avoids the millstone choruses altogether, taking a leisurely scenic route towards the peak. It is these drawn out instrumental moments on ‘What Lives’ in which the personality of In the Audience manages to permeate more clearly.

Although it is impressive how many sounds and styles In the Audience have managed to play with on ‘What Lives’, it does seem like they have done so without firmly affixing their own stamp on it. Because of the difference stylistic approaches and the way the tracks are organised, the flow of the album is interrupted, causing it to play more like two separate EP’s with two separate approaches that have been tacked together. Perhaps this is due to the inconsistent line-up, and with the latter half of the album, In the Audience really do allow themselves more space to come into their own.

The most promising song is ‘Not Alone’, the ten minute closing track which opens with off kilter drumming and then pushes the cutting guitars thoroughly to the forefront. It concludes with the cliff hanger lyric “Maybe I’ll never grow up to be a brighter light in the family” before petering out with hopeful piano chords, rattling percussion, and inaudible whispers. Everything is cut off suddenly with a noise that sounds like a tape ejecting from a car stereo. I felt like ‘What Lives’ got progressively better, and now I feel like I’m waiting to turn the tape over to hear just how much better In The Audience can get.

3.5/5

'What Lives' by In The Audience is available now on Nice Friends.

In The Audience on Bandcamp.

Emma Garland