New EP – THE IMMEDIATE – Shadows And Ghosts
The thing about being in a band when you’re what the music industry deem as ‘old’ is that you have nothing to prove. Yes, that ageist music industry, where image is everything. ‘How old are the band members?’ is usually one of the first questions a record company will ask when you’re touting a new band…
The Immediate are not a new band, they disappeared along with Britpop in the late nineties and the world didn’t shed a tear… Actually, the world barely noticed. What happens after that is the band members get on with ‘normal’ life… They get jobs, get married, have children, get divorced, get ill… basically, they deal with all the good things and all the shit things that life throws at them…
…but there is always that itch that needs to be scratched, and Adam, Richard and Duncan have finally produced the perfect ointment.
Twenty years on and this Mold three-piece have reformed. They have nothing to prove, no industry wankers to impress, and they’re twenty years more experienced. There’s no coincidence that you become better at your craft and it shows throughout this excellent EP.
I never really liked The Immediate ‘back in the day’ – they were OK, but I was never going to paint their logo on the back of my leather jacket.
The opening song Pockets is unashamedly the bread that The Jam would be spread on. Weller-esq riffs and a guitar sound that makes me jealous. You’d never think of a band repeatedly screaming ‘Pocketttts’ as the crescendo for their lead track, but it does work.
Shadows And Ghosts takes the tempo down but retains that dirty guitar power sound. Dealing with post break-up loneliness in an anthemic Britpop-tinged style. Just as you think it’s reaching the climax, up pops a Gallagher solo that adds an extra level.
Yoko is perhaps the most brattish of the four songs… ‘You are my Yo-o-o-o-ko’ and my favourite as it delivers a filthy riff, a filthy solo and you can tell Adam is doing his best not to ‘over-scream’ the chorus.
It complete contrast, the closer Garnets (1982) is very Pulco-esq and covers the colour of Kiki Dee’s lips and the Isle of Arran.. I’ll let the band tell you the full story… It’s a great story… It’s a great EP and will be available from iTunes, Amazon, Spotify etc. from the 2nd September. A limited number of free downloads of the EP (200) are available now via their bandcamp page…
Now where’s my leather jacket…?
