Well this is exciting (especially after the Unremembered, Remembered demos a few years back) — suddenly out of nowhere we have a new album from those Wolfgang Press guys. Is it any good? Of course it is!
The music feels very modern, slick and highly motivating. The drums sparkle in the energised knot of electronics, the blurring synthesis of guitar and bass giving out plenty of essential surprise. A prickly patina that flies round that lounging croon Mr Allen instigates. Feels very much like a Wolfgang Press record, soaked with that pithy intent I’ve always loved, that cynical bite.
Yes, a distinctly different beast for sure, but then again they’ve never been prone to repeating themselves. That gravelly voice the only constant — an anchoring authority that always defined the band, maybe here a touch more melancholic, suitably jaded (wouldn’t expect any less).
Looking at the “21st Century” with skating contempt they go. The double-image champagne fizz of that backing curiously abrasive — a gritty glitterati, tempo tipping those ear-worm hooks, vesselling the big-time. Its danceability bringing to mind Queer‘s easy-ear jive, something the cicada-ribbed “Sad Surfer” effectively adds to. All flexy keystroke wisps, the easy drift of melody swinging into an anxious erotic. The adrenalinised elasticity of “Take It Backwards” racing in there, a massive tilting horizon of a track, roasting a Rema-Rema-like rub. One of the album’s best tracks, sprayed in arterial synth.
I’m really digging the understated genius of the overall sound — where minimal seems to scream to maximum effect, velcroing tightly to each song’s emotive slur, pouring extra gravy on the gravitas of that fluid word flow. The slo-mo cold-wave of “Knock Knock”, its whispered introspectives baked in a languid cherry centre attaching itself to that catchy chorus, flanked in lush atmospheric flares. The autobiographic shiver of “Reset Your Mind” driven on a sustained buzz-saw drone that seems to do total justice to its title.Was kind of worried this rebirth would be no match for all those past glories, but I’m glad to report this new album stands a proud addition to the discography, adds extra flavour to TWP experience. An education that sneaks in the alt-pop pleasure of “The Line”, its wah-elixir clubland jiver nibbling to a question of time, all closing on the Silver Apples-like see-saw of “Glacier”.
I must have listened to A 2nd Shape to death recently, and its showing no signs of become boring anytime soon.
-Michael Rodham-Heaps-
